This was Riker’s female, whether he’d claimed her or not, and Myne would treat her that way.
And that meant keeping her alive and untouched.
“Drink,” he murmured into her ear.
Moaning, she wriggled closer to him, tucking herself into the curve of his body. He cursed as his body hardened, reacting to the awareness of a gorgeous female rubbing herself against him, and he cursed harder when his chest tightened with an even worse sensation: loneliness.
He shouldn’t be enjoying the feeling of closeness, of holding someone who didn’t belong to him, but damn, this felt good. He didn’t get to be with females often, not when his bite caused excruciating pain, and he definitely didn’t get to save a life . . . ever. Nicole was depending on him in order to survive, and he began to shake with the magnitude of it all.
Rike, he whispered to himself. If you come back and don’t mate this female before the next daybreak, I’ll kill you myself.
Of course, that was if Riker didn’t kill him first for getting a raging erection for his female.
Nicole was starving.
She rolled over, groaning at the aches and pains in her body. Geez, had she gone a few rounds in a boxing ring? If so, she’d lost the fight.
Riker’s earthy leather scent surrounded her, both comforting her and making her even hungrier. Her stomach growled, and deep inside, another hunger throbbed, a sexual one that pulsed hottest between her thighs.
The two needs tangled together, becoming one monstrous entity that demanded satisfaction. It was as if nine-tenths of her brain was operating only on instinct, and she had to struggle to get the remaining tenth to focus on rational thought.
Through a haze of hunger and lust, she reached for Riker, found him next to her. She opened her eyes but saw only pitch blackness. She should probably be afraid, but the rational sliver of brain was rapidly being swallowed by primitive compulsions. She wanted to climb on top of Riker, close her mouth over his throat, and—
“Ouch!” A needlelike stab of pain pricked her in the lip. She dabbed at the spot with her finger, felt the distinct warm stickiness of blood. She licked the puncture before touching the tip of her tongue to the sharp, pointed end of her canine tooth. Then the other.
Were those . . . oh, God, yes, they were.
She had fangs.
Her breath snagged in her throat. Her heart, which would have nearly doubled in size during her transformation, pounded erratically against a rib cage she knew had also expanded and grown an extra set of bones.
Holy shit, she was a vampire.
A confusing mix of emotions crashed over her in a violent wave: fear of the unknown, relief that she’d survived the transformation, and sorrow at severing the last link to humanity she had left. It didn’t matter that she’d had her eyes opened to the vampire world. She’d been born a human, but she’d die a vampire, and that was a difficult concept to grasp, especially as a fresh swell of hunger crushed her ability to think.
Need became a wicked jolt of pain that streaked from her belly to her teeth. Crying out, she curled in on herself. Hands came down on her, and suddenly, it was as if she knew exactly what to do.
She dove for Riker’s throat, clawing her way up his body. A guttural growl echoed in her ears. Hers? Was she actually growling?
“Your tongue,” he rasped. “Touch your tongue to the backs of your fangs.”
What was he babbling about? She didn’t care. She needed food. Hissing, she opened her mouth, ready to punch her fangs into anything that came within striking distance.
Fingers closed on her jaw, forcing her face up and squeezing hard enough to make her eyes sting.
“Your tongue,” he repeated sternly. “Do it, or you don’t eat.”
Food. She had to have food. Okay, wait, the tongue thing. Hastily, she probed the backs of her fangs, and there, just behind each, was a soft spot. She pressed inward and moaned as an erotic tingle spread along her teeth.
“Good girl,” he murmured, lying back and allowing her to pounce.
As if she’d been feeding like this her entire life, she struck, biting deep into flesh. The warm, heady rush of liquid filled her mouth and slid down her throat like silk. Her body jolted as if she’d plugged herself into an electric socket, and as her blood hunger began to ease, the other hunger swamped her.
It didn’t matter that Riker didn’t want her. Right now, all that mattered was satisfying the insane urges twisting up her insides.
Reaching between their bodies, she palmed the thick bulge behind his fly. He sucked air and arched up, pressing himself into her touch. A heartbeat later, he snarled a vile curse and shackled her wrist with his fingers.
“No.”
No? She whimpered, not understanding why he would deny her something she needed so badly that she couldn’t stop rocking her sex against his. The shifting, restless energy inside her demanded release. Demanded a merging of bodies and blood.