The Red Lily (Vampire Blood #2)(52)

"Fuck, woman. You're going to kill me," he declared between panting breaths.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, gaining a better hold as she rolled her spine in the perfect rhythm as he hammered up inside of her. Her eyes were nearly black, dilated pupils covering all the green, her mouth open in sensual need. She was perfect. He gripped her ass and shifted her higher so he could skate his tongue down to a taut, pink nipple.

"Nikolai!" she cried out, rocking her hips faster in frantic, desperate need.

He trailed to the other side and circled the nub with his tongue, then nibbled. "Scream my name again, sweetheart. I want to come so hard inside of you, so deep, neither of us will be the same."

She grazed her fingers up his jaw and dipped two fingers inside his mouth, pricking one on a sharpened fang. "Suck," she whispered breathlessly.

He did as she commanded, sucking inside him the sweet nectar of Sienna. Her mouth fell open, her head dropped back and she screamed his name, her sex pulsing as she squeezed her thighs together. 

On a deep, rumbling growl, he thrust up hard, hammering deep and grinding as he came with such force, the room hazed and his vision edged with black. Pulling her tight, he let the sensation ripple outward, the power of the moment palpable and terrifying.

Sienna pushed back and gazed down, her auburn hair in messy tumbles around her fair shoulders. She traced her pricked finger along his lips, lining them with her blood. He licked her sweet offering, unable to fathom someone as giving as Sienna, someone who offered him so much of herself.

"Why don't you feed?" she asked.

He tilted her forward to lay back on the bed and eased his cock out of her slowly. She winced with a hiss.

"I will not take anything else from you, sweetheart." He pulled the covers back from underneath her, then lay beside her. "You've given too much."

"No." She rolled to her side to face him, nuzzling closer when he pulled the coverlet up to her shoulders. "You've given me more-" A tear slipped down her cheek, striking Nikolai to the heart.

"What's wrong?" He cupped her cheek, sweeping his thumb across. "Does it hurt that badly?" He cursed himself. His pride be damned, he should've given her a full dose of the elixir. But he wanted her fully attuned to him, not his potent potion that could fog her senses.

She shook her head. "No."

"Then what? Tell me."

She hesitated.

He threaded his fingers into her hair, cupping the back of her head. "Tell me, Sienna, or I shall go mad."

She dropped her gaze to the base of his neck where her delicate fingers explored. "I just never thought I'd have anything like this. That I'd ever be with someone like you when I left the world behind to live in the woods."

"Someone like me?"

Her eyelashes fluttered, then she looked up, her exploring fingers sliding up along his jaw and into his hair. "Strong. Brave. Fearless. But also thoughtful. Giving. Gentle."

Nikolai barked out a laugh, unable to believe her description of him.

"What?" she asked when his chest still shook with laughter.

"Sweetheart, I'm not sure who you've been with, but I do not deserve all of those lovely attributes."

"Yes, you do."

"Strong, yes. I'm vampire. Brave, well, perhaps it has come with age. But the rest?" He wrapped a heavy hand over her hip beneath the covers, squeezing possessively. "I'm afraid those are not me. You're conjuring up fantasies."

She sobered. "The man who brought his partner food in the early morning hours was thoughtful. The man who rented a room in the freezing rain so that his partner could warm herself in comfort was kind. The man who bought her new, dry clothes and who thought of her shaking fingers enough to buy her gloves, knowing what she owned already wasn't nearly enough to stave off the cold, that man was giving." She traced his broad shoulders with the lightest touch, branding him with her gentle caress. "The man who took me in his arms and thought of my needs before his own, that man was giving. And the one who fought three vampires without a care for his own life, but managed to defeat them all to save me, that man was fearless."

In a swift move, he rolled her under him, both forearms planted above her shoulders, his hands cupping her beautiful face. "You place me too high, sweet Sienna. I am not a thoughtful, giving man. I'm selfish and bad-tempered and prideful most of the time." And a monster on occasion.

It was her turn to laugh. "We all have our faults. But I see who you really are."

Her words pierced his heart. "I am not fearless."

She brushed away a lock of hair that had fallen into his eyes. "What are you afraid of?"