Chapter 14
Devon hoped her words had gotten through to him as she tilted her head away again, exposing her throat to Kohl.
A brief second of panic overtook her when she realized what she was about to do, but she pushed it firmly away.
She knew from working at Parasupe how enamored victims became of the vampires who bit them.
But she didn’t know the vampire could track them.
And from Kohl’s reaction, there were other things she didn’t know, but they didn’t have time for a big heart to heart.
Besides, it all boiled down to one thing—Kohl was a stand up guy for a vampire/dragon, and she would much rather be attached to him than the crazy bastard who’d bitten her, if that was the case.
The first touch was soft, warm…gentle. A reverent kiss she felt all the way to her soul. The second touch was just a taste, a stroke of his tongue followed by a moan so earthy and erotic she felt it all the way between her legs. There was another gentle tug on her skin as he tested the blood flow.
Devon loved being this close to him. She moaned, and felt Kohl’s response as he drank from her.
Experiencing this with him was the most intimate thing she’d ever experienced.
The earthy, masculine smell of him. The warmth of his skin beneath her hands.
The retrained power of his quivering muscles.
The helpless sounds he made. Not to mention the knowledge that he needed her to survive—quite literally.
No heart to heart or hot and heavy sexual encounter had ever come close to it.
As a woman, she’d always been aware of the effect she had over men, no matter what they preferred to believe. When it came to sex, she held the power. But this…
This was heady in way she’d never imagined possible.
Without leaving her throat, he leaned back until he sat on his heels and pulled her with him, arranging her on his lap.
Devon straddled his hips with his strong arms wrapped around her and his hard, hot length nestled between her legs.
Her leggings and the thin blanket he wore like a towel provided few barriers between them, but it was still too much as far as she was concerned.
Rolling her hips, she tried to feel more of him.
Kohl lifted his head from her throat, dropped his hands to her thighs, and pressed his forehead against hers.
“Devon.” Her name tore from his lips as his large body shuddered beneath her.
“I want more. I want so much more.” Then he pulled back to look at her, and the words she had been about to say caught in her throat as she saw him. Really saw him.
Kohl was more vampire at this moment than she’d ever seen him before.
His upper lip lifted in a predator’s snarl, exposing his long fangs as he studied the pulse in her throat with hungry eyes.
His cheekbones were so sharp, she was surprised they didn’t cut through the skin.
His eyes were bright, glowing that reddish gold, the pupils so narrow they were like slits.
And overlaying shadows of the dragon rippled underneath.
Her eyes dropped to his bare chest and shoulders, where muscle strained, giving his tattoos a life of their own.
Unable to resist, she ran her hands down the front of his shoulders, over his pecs, and down the hard ridges of this stomach, feeling the skin and muscle ripple beneath her fingertips.
His big body shuddered beneath her touch, but otherwise he remained still, allowing her to explore him.
He was scary and miraculous and hungry and…beautiful.
Without a word, she pulled her hair away from the side of her neck and offered it to him once more.
Kohl immediately tried to draw back, turning his face away. He shook his head once, hard. “No. I’ve taken enough. It’s enough.” Shame reddened his features and darkened his eyes as he glanced at her sideways. “I already took more than I needed to.”
But Devon wasn’t giving up that easily. She took his face between her hands, ignoring his hiss of warning, and forced him to look at her. “I want more, too. Kohl, I want so much more with you.”
Desperation colored his words. “We can’t, honey. I’m barely hanging on by a thread, now.”
With a deep breath for courage, she pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth, the fine hairs of his beard and mustache soft against her lips. “I want to try.”
“Devon—”
She could hear the raw need in his voice. He wanted her. And she wanted him. But more importantly, she trusted him. Even if he didn’t trust himself. “You won’t hurt me,” she told him with conviction.
“You don’t know that. What if I shift?”
But his hands were already working their way beneath her sweater. When they came in contact with her heated skin, his eyes closed on a moan.
“You won’t.” And at that moment, she’d never been more certain of anything in her life.
He wasn’t so easily convinced. “How do you know that? I don’t know that.”
“I just know. Kohl, the dragon is a part of you. You may not remember much when you shift, but he—you—you were gentle, and protective. You saved me. You won’t hurt me.
You won’t shift.” Grabbing the bottom of her damp sweater, she pulled it up and off, tossing it to the floor.
Then she took his hands and placed them on her breasts.
His palms were hot through the thin cotton of her bra.
He ran the pads of his thumbs over her nipples, and they strained toward him.
“Kohl, please. I want you to touch me. I want to be with you. I want you inside of me. I want everything with you.” She braced for his rejection, knowing it would shatter her when it came.
But she needed him to know how she felt.
She didn’t want him to have any guilty feelings about what was happening.
His chest rose and fell with quick, hard breaths. He glanced up at her once, then slid his fingers beneath the top of her bra on either side.
With a quick, hard tug, he ripped it in half, exposing her bare breasts to his hungry gaze. He stared for so long, her face began to burn. But then one trembling hand covered her breast and squeezed, hefting its weight in his palm.
Eyes filled with wonder rose to meet hers, and Devon gave him a tremulous smile.
She nearly cried out with yearning when he wrapped his other hand around the back of her neck and brought her mouth to his.
His kiss was strained, and Devon knew he was holding back.
She broke it off to say something, anything that would make him let go, but her thoughts scattered as he kissed his way down to her throat, hovering over the wound he’d fed from.
“Do it,” she hissed.
Kohl struck, sharp fangs piercing easily through her skin. Devon did cry out this time, not from pain, but with relief, holding him to her when he would’ve stopped. “No! Drink, Kohl. Drink from me.”
The little bit of discomfort there was vanished almost instantly, replaced by the primal feel of him pulling on her vein.
Pleasure shot through her, intensified by his moans and the friction of her nipples against his chest. Still wearing her leggings, she moved her hips, rubbing herself shamelessly against him as waves of desire rolled through her womb, cresting higher and higher, the pressure building with each drink he took and every roll of her hips until—with a ragged intake of breath—she crashed over the edge.
His arms tightened around her as she came, the pleasure too much for her to contain, holding her as still as he could while he greedily partook of the blood rushing through her veins.
As she drifted back to reality, he withdrew his fangs from her throat, licking her wounds closed.
He kissed his way across her jaw, taking her mouth with an intensity he never had before.
He tasted like dark wine and darker desire, and Devon thrilled to the feeling of being truly possessed.
Before she realized what he was doing—he could move so damn fast—she found herself off his lap and on her feet.
With her hands on Kohl’s shoulders, she braced herself as he removed her shoes and leggings, crying out when his tongue and teeth found her.
His fingers dug into her hips, holding her still as he thrust with his tongue, drinking her release with moans of pleasure until the tension built into a furious storm and she crashed around him again, his hands the only things keeping her upright.
Air rushed past, cooling her heated skin, and she opened her eyes to find herself in the bedroom.
Kohl laid her down on top of the simple, blue bedspread. But instead of joining her, he stood staring down at her in all of his naked glory, the blanket left behind somewhere.
Devon took the opportunity to admire his body, large and muscular, and vibrating with power.
Tattoos covered his neck, upper chest, arms and hands.
Only his “unscarred” mantra marred his stomach.
Her eyes dropped lower, down to his hips and his thick, swollen cock, and a new surge of lust had her rubbing her thighs together helplessly.
A sound of desperation rumbled in his chest and he took himself in his hand, lazily sliding up and down his length.
Devon’s hand drifted between her legs as she watched him pleasure himself.
When she couldn’t stand it any longer, she tore her eyes away.
In his expression, she saw the vampire. But in his eyes, the dragon watched her with a lazy hunger. It didn’t frighten her. It excited her.
“I can hear your blood calling to me,” he told her. His voice was rough, his words thick on his tongue. “That’s never happened before.” Lifting one knee onto the bed, he hesitated, then carefully laid his palm flat on her collarbone before letting it drift lazily down between her breasts.
Devon arched her back, desperate for more of his touch.