Dae #3
"????," I said against her mouth. "I love you."
"I love you, too." Her nails dug into my back. "Dae, I—"
"I know." I felt it building in her, the pleasure cresting. "Let go, yeobo. It's okay. I've got you."
She came with my name on her lips, and I felt it all. Every pulse, every wave of sensation that rolled through her. It was overwhelming. Perfect.
I pulled my lips back on a hiss as I desperately tried to hang onto my control. My fangs were throbbing and thirst for her burned the back of my throat.
"Yes," she breathed, tilting her head to expose her throat. "Yes..."
Rearing back, I struck fast and hard, and her blood flooded my mouth—sweet and alive and mine. The taste of her grounded me even as it pushed me toward the edge.
I drank deep, savoring each swallow, feeling her pulse against my tongue. Her blood rushed through me, lighting every cell on fire, and I drank greedily, pulling away only to tear open my wrist.
"Drink," I said roughly, and offered it to her.
Alice's eyes met mine as she took my wrist in both hands and drank. I felt the pull of it, the connection completing itself all over again, and once again we were one. There was no separation between us, no boundary where I ended and she began.
Sliding my free arm beneath her leg, I opened her thighs to make more room and braced my weight on that hand as I went back to her throat.
I kept my other wrist at her mouth as her hands roamed over me everywhere they could reach. Every touch sent sparks down my spine. Every small sound she made went straight to my cock.
And when I felt the tension gather within her again, I growled deep in the back of my throat and sucked on her vein so hard she cried out, arching against me as she came, and I couldn't hold back any longer.
I lost myself in her. The taste of her blood, the wet heat of her body, the way she clung to me like I was the only solid thing in a world that kept shifting beneath her.
And when I finally allowed myself to come, it was with her name on my lips and her blood singing through my body.
Afterward, I licked our wounds closed, then rolled to my back and pulled her on top of me, tucking her head under my chin. Our legs tangled together as her heartbeat gradually slowed against my chest.
"It's still ours," she murmured sleepily. "It wasn't him. It was us."
"It was always us." I pressed a kiss to her hair. "It will always be us. You were amazing tonight," I told her with a sense of awe.
She raised her head so she could look at me. "Thank you," she told me sincerely.
I frowned down at her. "For what?"
"For not going all crazy vampire mate on me and letting me do what I needed to do.
I don't think I could've gotten through tonight without you there with me.
And I don't mean just physically. I felt you, Dae.
And I don't think I would've been strong enough to take on Marcus by myself, not without your love and strength to help me. "
"I think you're underestimating yourself, as usual."
She smiled, but I could tell she didn't believe me.
“But you do realize I'm probably going to lose my fucking mind every time you walk toward anything remotely dangerous for at least the next two hundred years.”
A tiny smile touched her mouth.
"But I can promise you this.” I took her hand and pressed it against my chest. “I will never make your choices for you again.
I won't ever tell you what you're strong enough to survive.
I won't lock you away because I'm afraid of losing you. And I will never use this bond to make your world smaller just so mine feels safer.”
Her eyes filled with tears, and I watched as one spilled over to run down her cheek to my chest.
“You want to fight, I'll fight beside you. You want to run, I'll run with you. You want me to stay the fuck out of your way…” I grimaced. “I'll hate every second of it, but I'll do that too. Or at least, I'll try.”
She laughed through her tears, and I bent my forehead to hers.
“You're not mine because some ancient magic says you are, yeobo. You're not mine because I bit you. And you're sure as hell not mine just because I say so.” I brushed my thumb beneath her eye, wiping away the way moisture. “You're mine only if you choose to be.”
“I do choose you,” she whispered. "I want nothing more than to spend forever with you, Dae-Jung."
Something in my chest broke wide open as she looked up at me with those beautiful gold-flecked eyes.
“Then that's my vow, Alice. As long as you keep choosing me, I'll keep choosing you. Every night. Every lifetime. Whatever comes next." I pressed a kiss to her hairline. "Now sleep, yeobo. I'll be here when you wake up."
She gave me a kiss and laid her head back down. I stroked her hair as I listened to her breathing even out. Within minutes she was asleep.
My own exhaustion dragged me down as I held her and felt the bond pulse warm and steady between us, and for the first time, the flowers on my back were still and quiet.
Closing my eyes, my heart and arms full of my Alice, I slept.