Chapter Ten
The longer I stare into her eyes, the more I want to fall into them. I want to explore her insides to figure out what makes her so unique compared to all the others.
There isn’t a moment when she locks into my gaze, and her sense of consciousness drifts. The hypnotic state I use against my victims does not work on Lula. My vampire influence has no effect on her. Will anything else? Will finding her fears be impossible?
A thunderous growl of frustration builds in my chest, followed by a slight whine of not knowing what she fears most. I want to experience her terror and soothe her pain. I want her screams, yet I want her moans.
I get lost in the feel of her trapped within my roots, her skin rubbing against the rough vascular tissue that allows me to feel every torturous inch of her silken skin.
She’s softer than I deserve.
Without breaking eye contact, I kick off my boots and unbutton my jeans.
“What are you—” She stops mid- sentence, closing her eyes to focus on speaking. The nightshade poison is beginning to work. “What are you doing?” Lula manages to slur, the poison taking longer to take hold.
“Taking what’s mine, Lula. I should have done this much sooner.” One claw drifts down her chest, plucking the first button free. “But I’ve been busy making sure no one else has your attention.”
“The killings?” Her eyes hood. “It’s you?”
“It’s always me. It will always be me.”
“I can’t…” She swallows. “I can’t allow you to do that.”
I pop another free, her blouse parting to show her cleavage, a white laced bra peeking through.
“Allow me?” A full belly laugh is unknown to my own ears since I can’t remember the last time I found something truly amusing.
I rip her shirt free, her body on display to sate my disgusting tendencies.
“I do not need permission.” Raking my nails down her pants, blood sticking to the underside of my claws.
She screams the moment her skin tears from the sharpened points.
“Mmmm,” I hum with satisfaction, lifting my nails to the light.
Her blood glistens so beautifully. It’s the perfect color. Not too dark, not too bright—the exact shade that I love the most.
I smell them, inhaling the rich citrus that reminds me of a refreshing drink on a hot, unforgiving day.
“You smell…” My voice deepens with arousal. “Divine.”
She watches me intently, calculating, as if she’s trying to figure out a way to set herself free or give in to the monster who has been breaking into her home for the last few days.
Without her knowledge.
“Look at me when I taste you.” I grip her chin with one hand to give her stability since she is losing all feeling in her body.
Her long lashes blink in wonder, seducing me with every flutter.
I suck my index finger between my lips, never breaking eye contact with my mate. My tongue dips into the crevice of my nail, her blood exploding over every supernatural taste bud, allowing me to experience her in ways that barely scratch the itch of the cravings I have for her and her alone.
Fireworks of screams I’ve ignited from so many others burst in my eyes as her blood travels down my throat. I can taste her terror, a bittersweet undertone that adds to the spice of her want for me.
Such a confusing mate, finding herself wanting yet fearing me. I can give her the best of both worlds.
“Do you want to see what you do to me?” I rumble, sucking a second finger into my mouth, needing every fucking drop so none goes to waste.
I’ll drink her by the time the night ends and the sun rises. She will be bound to me as the first rays of light pour through the window. For all eternity, for all futures, her soul hexed to be mine.
What I’m learning is that it is me who is in her cage, never wanting to be set free because freedom only exists if I can see her. Every choice I make, every life I take, every nightmare I inflict, it is all for her. She wields the key to every decision made, and I regret nothing.
“Who are you?” The words are strained against her tongue.
I suck all my fingers clean before stepping into her space, until her breasts push against my abdomen.
“How rude of me not to introduce myself.” I flatten my palm over my heart. “After all this time, I had forgotten that while hunting you, you don’t know me.” I push down my jeans, tossing them to the side, licking the tip of my left fang.
“What are you going to do to me? Are you going to leave me in nothing but pieces like you did Greta? Fireopal? The taxidermist?” A fresh wave of sadness deconstructs her face, her wet cheeks reminding me how thirsty I have become for her.
Mesmerized by her beauty, I skim my fingers over her cheek, across her lips, over the tip of her nose, needing to recite every line and curve that creates her.
“You have hollowed out a part of me that I am afraid only you can fill.” My brows pull together, hating that she thinks that I would ever disrespect her body like the others.
I find myself mourning at the thought of her needing to be put back together, something as similar to me, and it is the last thing I want for her.
The pain of being transformed is not what I want for her.
I’m mourning at the thought of finding her pieces, the imagery too strong.
“I am Shade Hellstrom.” I nuzzle her cheek, marking her with my scent. Every threat needs to smell me on her, knowing she’s taken, knowing she’s mine.
“Shade,” she repeats in a slow, struggling exhale, but a wave of content ripples between us—a scent I could get used to.
Hearing her say my name has an electrical river of ecstasy buzzing in my veins.
“And I want you to see what you do to me.” Gripping the back of her neck, I force her to look down at my cock. “Watch what you’re chained to.”
The anglerfish mouth parts, the teeth bearing themselves to her for the first time, showing off how sharp they are. My long, thick cock begins to lengthen at last, aching due to being trapped for so long.
Her lust fuels the air, sparking it, so all that it would take for me to come is a simple exhale of her breath against the shaft.
“Oh god—” she wheezes, lifting her worrying gaze up to meet mine.
“I said to watch what you do to me.” I force her head back down, my fingers digging into the muscles of her neck.
My hard length weighs so much that it can’t stand straight.
“You’re—” She whimpers, squeezing her eyes shut as she continues to fight the poison. “You’re pierced.”
I have a Prince Albert through the tip and a Jacob’s ladder down the shaft.
The metal bars gleam from the precome leaking from the tip.
I’m dying to be inside my mate, literally.
The vampire needs her blood in massive waves, to drink is to claim, and I’ve been so focused on killing her suspects to have her to myself—that I haven’t fucking had her to myself.
That will change going forward. She is too important to allow another day to slip through my fingers.
My hard cock falls to my knee, the precome smearing against my thigh.
I bare her to me, stripping the remaining shreds of her pants off. She’s in her bra and panties. The simple white lace against her tanned skin has an insatiable need come over me. I’m reminded of the night I fucked her with a root and came all over her chest, marking her as mine and mine alone.
Too much time has passed, and now I’m afraid that what I will do next will take her to the edge of death. Killing her is impossible now that she has my blood inside her.
“What do yo—” She stops speaking, the poison finally doing its job. Her eyes widen in horror, and the amount of fear pouring from her gets me a little tipsy.
She tries to speak, but nothing but noises come out. More tears fall when she realizes her predicament.
Lula can’t cry for help.
She can’t scream.
No one will be able to hear her.
Her misery is mine.
I growl, my cock bumping into her thigh. The teeth surrounding the base of my cock try to bite, wanting to lock her to me while I fill her pretty cunt with come.
Before, I wasn’t sure if I wanted children with her, but the thought of her carrying my offspring, smelling of me, branded, proof of my claim, now I want nothing more than to see her belly round.
My tongue drags over my teeth as my eyes linger on her body that I’m about to invade. Grabbing her by the neck, I bend down until I’m eye level with her, more tears escaping her eyes, but she can’t fool me.
She loves this.
Lula loves me.
Even if she doesn’t know it yet.
My claw slices through her bra, freeing her breasts that fit perfectly in my hands. Her nipples become tight as I drift my fingers down her chest, then her trembling stomach, and cup her pussy.
She gasps, mouth wide open, just waiting to be filled by my rhino cock that will no doubt choke her from the size.
Puncturing the material of her panties, I fist them in my hand, ripping them from her body so she’s naked before me. Unable to stop the dying need to smell her sweet cunt, I bury my nose into her underwear,
I growl, inhaling deep. Anger consumes me when my lungs won’t expand any further. I could suffocate myself just like this, infiltrated by her, and I’d die a happy beast.
“I’m going to be saving these for later.” I toss her underwear on top of my jeans, a reminder not to leave them behind when this night ends.
Another wave of lust penetrates the air, making me turn to Lula with a raised brow. She’s still crying, but I’m no fool. She squeezes her thighs together, the evidence of her arousal shining on her tender flesh.
I crash to my knees, the floor cracking under my weight, and the walls shaking from the force of me. I’m nearly her height now. I skim my hands up her thighs, her muscles trembling under me.
Bending down, I flatten my tongue across the marks I’ve left behind when I ripped her pants free. Lifting my own hands, I school my face when I notice a tremble.
I’m…nervous.
I’ve never been nervous a day in my life.