"Henrik," she whimpered. Words hung for a long moment on the tip of her tongue. And then she shoved the fear and uncertainty and debate away and gave them voice. "I want you."
Chapter 10
It was only because he was so acutely aware of Kaira that he heard her speak over the roar of the white noise driving him to feed.
And then the words sank in. I want you.
The answering growl that rolled out of his chest was pure sexual instinct. And he was so fucking ready. From the moment his fangs had penetrated her flesh, he'd been all sexed up.
But his physical hunger waged war against his sexual hunger. He couldn't stop drinking. He couldn't make himself pull away. The taste was too sweet, the relief too great, the fundamental satisfaction of nourishment too overwhelming. He told himself each swallow would be the last, but then he sucked again, and again.
Panic skittered down his spine. He was going to kill her. He was going to bleed her dry.
After a decade of virtual starvation, his body was trapped in the stranglehold of survival mode. He unleashed a desperate whimper stifled by a thick swallow of blood.
"Tell him again," Jakob rasped. "Again, Kaira."
"I want you, Henrik," she whispered, a note of fear entwining with the arousal roughening her voice. Her fingers carded through his hair, her nails scratching his scalp. "I want you."
It was more than he'd hoped. Not just her acquiescence, but her desire. Not just her willingness, but her eagerness. Warm pressure filled his chest.
But he still couldn't stop.
Even now her blood was rebuilding and reawakening him. More, more, more was the constant mantra filling his head.
"It's like before, Kaira," Jakob said, panic lancing into his voice. "You have to convince him. You have to bring him back to you. Tell him."
Under his touch, she was shaking now. And the intense scent of adrenaline joined the sweet smell of her arousal.
"Okay, okay." She slid her hand under his hair, massaged his neck, and leaned in as close as their position would allow. "You can have more. I'm not going anywhere. But right now, I need you. I want you, Henrik, so you have to stop."
His breathing and heart rate picked up their pace at the promise of her words.
"Show him," Jakob urged.
She rained kisses down everywhere she could reach. His head, his temple, his shoulder. He clutched harder to her, the need for sex beginning to outweigh his need for blood. Grasping the hand pressing down on her forearm, she said, "Let me." Tentatively, he gave in and allowed her to pull his right hand. He twisted just in time to see her kiss the backs of his fingers, the Magnusson crest ring.
"Use your teeth," his brother said.
Henrik growled, a warning to Jakob, an encouragement to Kaira.
She heeded them both, sucking his middle finger into the wet heat of her mouth and lightly scraping her teeth against his flesh as she withdrew.
"Harder," Jakob said, his voice heavy with arousal. Henrik was going to kill him, he was going to fucking-
Kaira sucked his pointer and middle fingers in to the second knuckle. And then she sank the sharp edge of her teeth into his skin. She bit and nibbled at the fleshy pads of his fingers until Henrik was shaking and moaning and sweating.
Just stop. Just pull away. Just st-
"Jesus Christ, Henrik, this woman is fucking phenomenal. Either you take her or I will."
Henrik's eyesight went red with rage. He extracted his teeth, licked her wound closed in a single swipe, and launched himself at his brother, taking them both to the ground in a tangle halfway across the room. Kaira shrieked as they rolled and fought to pin one another. Jakob was saying something Henrik couldn't hear over the angry static his brother's words had unleashed.
For just a moment, he pictured it. Jakob removing her clothes, laying her beneath him, opening her legs...
A lightning bolt of power surged through him and he slammed Jakob to the floor and wrapped both hands around the younger vampire's throat.
Jakob looked up at him...and smiled. "Dum faen. Just...needed a way...to motivate you...to stop," he said around sucking gasps for breath.
Henrik released him and shoved to his knees, breathing hard and glaring at the smug-ass expression his brother wore. Then the vampire's face shifted, something more like awe settling onto his features as his eyes scanned over Henrik's face.
"Welcome back, brother," Jakob said.
The king got to his feet and hoisted the other male up with him. Even though his rational mind knew his words had been a ruse, the primal part of his brain had its hackles raised. "Thanks. Now get the fuck out."
Jakob grinned, looking happier than he'd seen him in a long time. "You sure?"
"Out."
He held up his hands. "All right. All right."
They turned to find Kaira standing not far behind them, eyes wide and hands pressed over her mouth. "I thought he was going to kill you," she said, dropping her hands and glaring at Jakob. "That was stupid."
Henrik barked out a laugh. Laughter. Something else she brought out in him.
His brother scoffed. "Just some good-natured rough and tumble." He threw a wink over his shoulder, then paused next to Kaira. Pressing his hands together like he was praying, he bowed his head and whispered, "Thank you." And then he left.
The closing of the door behind him left a ringing silence. That suddenly flashed hot.
His eyes meet Kaira's for a long moment, their whole lives hanging on a knife's edge.
He wasn't sure who moved first. Next thing he knew, they were all over each other. Devouring each other's mouths. Clutching skin. Tugging clothing. She was warm and writhing and rubbing herself against him. She sucked on his tongue like she was ravenous, and the thought that she was enjoying the taste of her own blood in his mouth made him harder than he'd ever been in his life. He tugged her T-shirt over her head, only breaking their kiss long enough to let the cotton pass. The robe was like sand paper against his suddenly alive skin, so he shrugged it off, one arm at a time, until it fell free of his body.
The bare skin of his chest pressed against the bare skin of hers. Except for the satin of her bra. He made quick work of solving that problem and it joined their other discarded clothing at their feet.
She gasped, her hands splaying over his pecs. "This is gorgeous," she whispered admiring the gold-and-black-inked heraldic lion wearing a crown and carrying a silver axe, the royal symbol of his lineage that dated back to the time of his medieval father, Eric Magnusson. Her gaze dragged over his face and she smiled. "Oh, Henrik." Wonder reshaped her expression as she cupped his jaw in her hands. "I think it's working."
He wasn't sure what she saw, so he just nodded, too choked up at the raw happiness rolling off her to chance his voice. And he knew it was true. Energy and power and vitality vibrated through him.
For the first time in years, he wasn't hungry. Not for blood.
"Kaira, I don't know if I can be slow about this, not this time," he said, hope that there would be a next time burning bright within him.
Her cheeks went pink.
He pulled one of her hands to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "What is it, kjære?"
Gaze skittering away from his, she said, "I don't know what I'm doing here."
His stomach dropped and he took a step back. "If you've changed your mind-"
"No." She shook her head. "It's not that." She closed the distance between them, her forefinger tracing the lion's paws. "I'm, uh, I've never done this before." She lifted one shoulder in a small shrug.
Her words hit home. Victorious heat flooded through his veins. "‘This' meaning...?" When she didn't answer, he tilted her chin up with his fingers.
"Sex." Pulling away from his gentle hold, she nipped at his fingers, then dropped her gaze to the length of his rigid cock standing out straight between them. The sounds of her shallow breaths and racing heart were like a siren call, beckoning him to her. But he'd give her the time she needed to get used to the sight of him. "Can I touch-"
"Ja, always." He guided her hand to curl around his hard-on. God, but her touch was the sweetest torture. For a few slow strokes, they worked his cock together, his big hand covering her smaller one. "Kaira," he rasped.
"It feels nice."