32. Second Life #2
“Can I still eat pizza?”
“You can eat human food. Though, it will no longer provide nutrition.”
“Then I'm fine.”
He made a sound that was either a laugh or a sob or both, and his forehead came down against mine and his hands pulled me closer and we stayed like that.
“My mom,” I said.
His body stiffened against mine.
“I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't reach her in time. I'm sorry I couldn't bring her back.”
“Could you have?”
“No. The injury was instantaneous and fatal. Even vampire blood cannot reverse a broken spine at the point of severance. I tried to give her my blood but it did nothing, because there was nothing left for it to reach.”
I closed my eyes. The tears came without warning and they burned against my skin.
I had never fully forgiven her. And now she was gone and the forgiveness I had been holding back was going to sit in my chest forever with no one to give it to.
“She was brave,” I said. My voice broke. “At the end. She was brave.”
“She was extraordinary. Her healing magic saved Mateo and Rowan. Her barrier held the corridor entrance for twelve minutes against creatures that should have overwhelmed it in seconds. She fought with a power she had denied herself for thirty years and she did not hesitate.” Draco's hand moved to the back of my neck.
“She was your mother. The courage came from the same place yours does.”
I cried into his chest ad he let me. Drake moved down to the end of the bed and settled there with the quiet dignity of a creature who understood that some moments were not for him.
The grief came in waves. I rode each one and let it pass and held on to the cold body pressed against mine and the steady heartbeat under my ear and the knowledge that the woman who had given me life had given her life so that I could keep mine.
When the tears slowed, I pulled back. Draco's shirt was wet.
“I'm hungry,” I said.
“You need blood.”
“Yeah, that's going to take some getting used to.”
He lifted his wrist to his mouth and bit into it.
The puncture was neat and the blood that welled from it was dark and it carried a scent that went straight through me with a force that I was not prepared for.
Every cell in my body oriented toward the wound the way a compass needle oriented toward north.
The hunger was not a feeling. It was a direction.
I took his wrist and pressed my mouth to it.
The blood hit my tongue and the world expanded. I drank and his blood moved through my system and I felt it meet my own blood and the two of them recognised each other and merged, and the hunger eased.
I pulled back. Licked the wound closed the way my body knew to do without being taught
His eyes were dark. His pulse had quickened. The blood exchange had done to him what it had always done, the feeding blurring into wanting, and I could feel it now from both sides. His desire arriving through the blood we shared, the connection running in both directions.
“Drake,” I said.
The cat looked up from the end of the bed.
“Get out.”
Drake stared at me for a long, measured moment. Then he stood, stretched and dropped off the bed. I heard him land on the floor and pad toward the door, and I heard the door creak open because Blackthorne was paying attention and had decided to assist.
“Take your shirt off.” I ordered Draco and he did.
I pulled him down. His chest hit mine with a solid, heavy impact that would have bruised my old body. Now, it just felt like a challenge. I wrapped my arms around his broad back and rolled us over, pinning him to the mattress with a sudden, shocking speed.
Draco let out a startled breath. His dark eyes widened slightly as he stared up at me.
“I need to test my new sex prowess,” I told him. My voice sounded darker, a little rougher around the edges.
Draco blinked. Then a genuine, surprised laugh escaped his lips. The sound was rich and warm and it vibrated directly into my chest. “Your sex prowess.”
“Yes,” I said. I grinned down at him. “I am a vampire now. I need to know exactly what this body can do. I need to know how much I can take and how much I can give.”
His amusement faded into a deep, consuming hunger. “Show me, Nico.”
I did not hesitate. I grabbed the collar of his ruined shirt. I did not bother with the buttons. I just pulled. The fabric ripped apart with a loud, satisfying sound. I tore the material completely off his shoulders and tossed the shreds onto the floor.
Draco reached up and grabbed the hem of my own shirt. He mirrored my violence. He gripped the fabric and tore it straight down the middle. The sound of tearing cotton echoed loudly in the quiet room. He stripped the ruined pieces off my arms.
I moved my hands down to his trousers. I gripped the heavy wool at the waistband and pulled outward.
The button popped off and hit the far wall.
The zipper broke. I tore the thick fabric down his legs and kicked the ruined garments off the bed.
Draco helped me tear away the rest of my own clothes until we were both completely naked and exposed in the dim light.
The new strength was intoxicating. I felt a raw, feral energy humming just beneath my skin. I looked down at Draco. His pale body was a landscape of ancient power and new scars. I wanted to devour every inch of him.
I leaned down and pressed my mouth to his neck. I did not kiss him gently. I bit him. I sank my teeth into the thick muscle where his shoulder met his neck. I did not break the skin, but I applied enough pressure to make him gasp. I tasted the salt and the lingering scent of silver on his skin.
Draco arched his back. His hands tangled in my hair. He gripped my scalp with a bruising force that felt absolutely perfect.
I moved my mouth down his chest. I licked a rough path over his pectoral muscles. I found the dark starburst scar where the silver bullet had hit him. I sucked the scarred tissue into my mouth. I licked it and bit it and worshiped the mark that proved he had fought for me.
“Nico,” Draco growled. His voice was a low rumble that shook the bed.
I ignored him. I was completely lost in the heightened sensory input. I could hear the frantic, heavy rhythm of his heart.
I dragged my body downward. I kissed his stomach and the hard ridges of his abdominal muscles. I reached his groin and took his heavy, throbbing cock into my mouth.
The taste of him was explosive. It was cold power and ancient blood and pure, concentrated desire. I sucked him hard. I used my new strength to hold his hips down against the mattress. I bobbed my head with a frantic, starving rhythm. I wanted to drain him completely.
Draco thrashed beneath me. He tried to pull my head up, but I resisted. My vampire strength matched his own. I kept him pinned. I swallowed his thick length over and over. I swirled my tongue around the blunt head and sucked the sensitive underside until he was roaring my name into the quiet room.
I pulled off his cock with a loud, wet pop. I scrambled back up his body and straddled his hips. I looked down at him. His chest heaved. His dark eyes were completely black.
“My turn,” I demanded.
But before I could reach for his massive erection again, Draco moved.
The world blurred. My new vampire reflexes were fast, but they were nothing compared to a millennium of honed instinct.
He flipped us over with a terrifying, effortless surge of power.
My back hit the mattress hard. He pinned my wrists above my head with one large hand.
His dark eyes blazed with a cruel, controlled fire. “You are strong, Nico,” he murmured. His voice was a dark velvet scrape against the quiet room. “But you are still brand new. Let me show you what real power looks like.”
He did not let me go. He reached down with his free hand and grabbed the shredded remnants of my shirt from the floor.
He moved with a blinding speed. He twisted the torn fabric into a makeshift rope.
He bound my left wrist to the heavy wooden bedpost. Then he grabbed another strip of cotton and secured my right wrist.
I thrashed against the bindings. The fabric dug into my skin.
I tried to use my new strength to break the bedposts, but Draco anticipated the move.
He threw his heavy weight over my legs. He grabbed the torn pieces of his own expensive trousers.
He tied my ankles to the bottom posts, spreading my legs wide open.
I was completely immobilized and entirely exposed to his hungry gaze.
Draco stood up beside the bed. He looked down at my flushed, bound body. He was a portrait of ruined elegance and ancient dominance. He stepped back just enough so I had a perfect view of him.
He put on a show for me. He rolled his broad shoulders backward.
The thick muscles in his chest and arms bunched and shifted beneath his pale skin.
He flexed his biceps deliberately. The sheer size of him was magnificent.
He traced a slow hand down his own abdomen, highlighting the hard ridges of his muscles.
He knew exactly what he was doing. He was weaponizing his own beauty against me.
“Do you like what you see?” Draco asked. He stepped closer and trailed his fingers lightly over my inner thigh.
“Yes,” I gasped. I strained against the tight bindings. “Untie me, Draco. Let me touch you.”
“Not yet,” he purred. He stood right beside my head. “You wanted to test your limits. We are going to test your patience first.”
He grabbed his heavy, throbbing cock in one hand. He stood close enough that his thick shaft was mere inches from my face.
He wrapped his large hand around the thick base and dragged his palm all the way up to the blunt tip. He repeated the motion with a steady, punishing rhythm. The wet slapping sound of his hand against his groin echoed loudly.