The Last True Vampire(38)

He gripped her upper arm in one strong hand and the other he used to cup the back of her neck. He eased her head to one side and Claire’s head spun in a dizzying blur. Yes. Yes, yes, yes. Anticipation coiled tight in her stomach at the prospect of what he was about to do. Just like that night. Like in her dream. His mouth left hers and she let go of his shirt to coil her fingers through his hair. Mindless, she pressed him to her throat, her breath racing in desperate gasps.

In an instant he took her down, laying her out on the couch as he settled between her thighs. Claire thrust her hips up, grinding into the length of his erection straining against the fly of his pants. On the heels of the sharp sting of his bite pleasure seized her, pulsing through her body in a warm rush that made her cry out. Oh, god. She could come like this. Just from a single sharp bite. A low, satisfied groan rumbled in his throat, accompanied by a slow, deep suction. Claire became light-headed; the room seemed to drop out from beneath her as she floated on a cloud of pure bliss.#p#分页标题#e#

“More.” The word passed slow and lazy from her lips. “Don’t stop.”

Michael pulled back with a roar, his mouth stained crimson. Panic lit his handsome features and the bright silver fled from his gaze, leaving nothing more than clear turquoise. His breath sawed in and out of his chest and his hand was shaking as he put his thumb in his mouth and bit down with his fangs. Two drops of blood welled from the punctures and he brushed the pad of his thumb over the skin on Claire’s throat, causing her to shudder.

She couldn’t speak, couldn’t keep her world from careening. Her own breath sped in her chest and her body ached with the need to pull him back to her. No man had ever driven her to such a reckless state.

“You cannot leave.” Michael wiped at his mouth as he pushed himself away and off the couch. Claire was stunned, hurt slicing through her at his sudden coldness. “You’re not a prisoner, Claire, but don’t make me turn you into one. There are guards stationed throughout the property. Alex knows to watch over you, and if you trick him or try to leave under his watch I won’t hesitate to punish him. And it will be dire.”

He turned and left the room in a blur of motion. Alone, Claire clutched at her chest as she willed the lump of emotion that had risen in her throat to go away. His rejection cut through her with a razor-sharp edge and she hated him for making her feel so vulnerable.





CHAPTER

11

“I didn’t expect to see you tonight, Ronan,” a smooth female voice purred from the darkness. “I thought your king had warned you away from me.”

Ronan stepped out of the shadows and braced a shoulder against the doorjamb. “He’s your king, too, Siobhan. Your disdain is what has caused him to form an … unsavory opinion of you.”

“Do you think I care what Mikhail Aristov thinks of me?” The dhampir female strode across the room, her black hair cascading over one shoulder and her green eyes alight with heat. The sway of her hips held Ronan in thrall. Her black leather pants left nothing to the imagination and her breasts nearly spilled from her corseted top. The female oozed sex. “Why are you here?”

“You know why I’m here.”

Her lips brushed his ear as her hand reached down to cup his cock through his slacks. “Maybe I just want to hear you say it.”

It showed how badly he needed to take the edge off that he’d come here tonight. His reasons weren’t entirely selfish, however. Siobhan had something he wanted and he wasn’t leaving until he got it. Mikhail needed all the help he could get. He needed answers as to why he’d been tethered by a human and he needed an army with which to hold the Sortiari at bay. And so here Ronan was, right in the lion’s den ready to serve himself up as a main course in order to ensure he could do those things for his king. He seized Siobhan roughly by the wrist and brought her hand up between them. “Your constant and foolish attempts at a power grab have been ill conceived. It’s time to stop this nonsense. You’ve made an enemy of your king when what you should have done was align yourself with Mikhail as soon as possible.”

She jerked her hand from Ronan’s grasp and a feral hiss slipped from between her bared fangs. “I’m not interested in aligning myself with him.”

“Not even now that he’s no longer one of the soulless?”

Siobhan’s eyes narrowed to emerald slits that glittered in the darkness. “You’re a liar.”

A corner of Ronan’s mouth quirked. “He’s been tethered. You’d recognize it if you had a scrap of sense. His power has been awakened by this female and Mikhail’s throne will be once and for all solidified in the resurrection of the vampire race. He will rule both of our races.”#p#分页标题#e#