Vampire Girl(61)

"Essentially, yes."

"With my consent, of course."

"With me that would always be true, but that's not the case with others."

"So they would force me?" My voice quivers at the thought of the violation. "How do they think that will convince me to choose them in the end?"

"If they can impregnate you first, then they will have to be the one you choose. The heir must come first."

"So if I get pregnant, I have no choices left?"

His hand squeezes my hip. "Correct. That's why Levi isn't worried about his earlier display. He doesn't need you to like him. He just needs you to carry his child. Also, there are other ways to manipulate you into sex that aren't so... clearly forced, but which you would still consider a violation of the consent that is so important to you."

I frown. "Ways like what? Drugs?"

"In a manner of speaking. You've experienced the effect Dean had on you. He is the demon of lust and he can make you want things... feel things... that would be hard not to act on." Fen turns his head away from me, his jaw clenched.

I put a hand on his cheek, feeling the stubble of hair on my skin as I pull his face up to look at me. "Dean can use all his tricks on me, but I am not ruled by desire or lust. I'm smarter than that. And I gotta say, his recent alignment with Levi left him low on my list. I felt nothing when near him that night."

"They are strong, Ari. Powerful. We are the Fallen. The first of our kind to come to this world. The original cursed. You wouldn't stand a chance against them. Against any of us."

A buzz grows between us. This electric charge I can't pull away from. "Then you'll have to stick around and protect me. That's your job, isn't it?"

"Yes." His voice is deeper than normal. More gravelly.

"Then don't leave me," I whisper. "I know it's only been a few weeks, but I can't imagine being in this world without you. You have become my rock."

"Oh, Arianna. You don't know what you're asking of me."

"Then tell me. Help me understand. Am I wrong in thinking what I'm feeling between us is mutual?"

He pulls me closer to him, our bodies now pressed together. I can feel the heat of his skin through my clothes. He's so feverish. So sick. I shouldn't be pushing him like this, but I can't let him slip away from me, and that's what I fear will happen if I don't break through this wall he's put up between us.

"You are not wrong." He uses one hand to cup my cheek. His gaze is penetrative, and I stay still, my breath threading through me in the smallest of movements, my body on fire, every nerve hyper-alert.

I see so much in his blue eyes. So many years of living. So much pain. So much sadness. But also so much strength. So much kindness. So much untapped tenderness. I want more than anything to reach into his soul and pull it out of the self-imposed darkness and into the light.

He leans in and presses his lips to mine. I shiver as our mouths connect. His hand moves from my face to the back of my head as he buries his fingers in my hair and pulls me closer. His other hand wraps around my waist and splays against my back. I let myself relax into his body, as I straddle his lap, my chest pressed against his, my arms wrapping around his neck.

The kiss deepens, taking on a life of its own as our bodies come to life with each other. Our breath merges, and the urgency of our need dances through our skin, infecting us with wild abandon.

I grip his neck harder, my fingers tugging on his hair, my desire clawing through me like a starving creature in need of air, life.... him.

He tastes of mint leaves, and his scent is wild, earthy. I can't get enough of him, of this, of everything I feel when I'm with him.

His hands explore my body, and I push myself closer to him, adjusting myself on top of him. I know he wants me as much as I want him.

Now. Here. In the middle of a storm. In a cave by a fire.

He moves from my mouth to my neck and ear, kissing, nibbling, sucking. I groan against him, my face buried in his neck. He lifts me effortlessly and repositions us so that I'm on my back. He leans over me, his body pressed between my legs. His hair falls around his face as he looks at me in the firelight. "We do not have to do this."

I reach up to grip his neck and pull his face to mine. "I want you, Fenris Vane. Now."

A growl rumbles deep in his throat, and he kisses me again. His body is hot. Too hot.

Something is wrong.

He pulls away and rolls onto his back. He starts to shake. His throat is tight. He's choking!

I sit up and lean over him. "Fen! What's wrong?"

His body convulses, and he coughs up foam and blood. His eyes lose focus, and he grows paler.

"Fen! What do I do? What's happening?"

"The poison," he says through crimson lips. "Something in the blood."