Ravenous

her.

His thoughts swung back and forth, persistent as a clock's pendulum. He did not know the truth, or whether it was all just different views of reality. He was death and a cure both. What have I done?

Bending over Holly, he inhaled the scent of her skin, sweet as wild honey. He had tasted the demon in her blood tonight, faint but present. Omara was right: Macmillan's kiss had been eroding her already.

But now the scent of the demon had faded, the mark of Alessandro's venom taking ascendancy. She is wholly mine now. A rush of appetite flooded through him, filling his mouth with saliva. He touched the soft, soft curve of her cheek with his lips. My own.

An ache of regret and loss caught under his ribs, all the worse because he knew it changed nothing. I love her. There has to be a way out of this. If I have to I will walk away, but please, please let there be another way.

Holly came to life, turning beneath him. Blinking sleepily, she wound her arms around his neck. 'You're here.'

'Of course.' Guilt crowded behind the words, the first he had spoken since taking her.

'I'm glad. Don't ever leave.' She pulled him down, taking his mouth for a long, breathless moment. 'I want us to lie here forever.'

That's the venom talking. Alessandro forced a smile. 'I'm a terrible conversationalist once the sun comes up.'

'I didn't mean we'd be swapping gossip.'

Oh, Holly, he thought sadly.

He let her pull him down beside her, his weight jostling the big bed. Holly straddled him, grabbing the waistband of his jeans. 'You drove last night. This time I get the car keys, and you enjoy the ride.'

Despite himself, Alessandro felt his muscles go slack with pure male delight. Oh, yes.

Then sanity bobbed to the surface. She was riding high on the dregs of his last bite. Maybe part of her enthusiasm was real, but part was also chemical.

'Are you sure this is—'

She put her mouth to his ear, the silky curve of her shoulder brushing his chin. 'Stop fretting. What does it matter? What can you do that hasn't already been done?'

With a single motion she stripped off her shirt, tossing it over the side of the bed. A black satin bra scalloped the edges of her full breasts, the lace edging cut low enough to show her nipples jutting hard against the net.

How could he resist? His body's response was instant and emphatic, man and vampire on full alert. The blood beneath that fine white skin was so rich with power. A witch tasted heavy and thick, tingling with magic like fine champagne.

He wanted it. And he wanted those breasts in his hands, those legs wrapped around his waist. His fingers hooked under one thin black bra strap and slid it over her shoulder, pressing his lips where it had dented the flesh beneath. As she shifted against him, his tongue found the hollow above her collarbone.

Then air separated them. Her hands had been busy with his jeans, releasing his hot and aching member from imprisoning cloth. Holly's fingers were clever enough, but at the touch of her hot, wet mouth—sucking, licking, teasing him to readiness—his heart thumped suddenly to life. A rush of heat filled him, the energy from the blood he had already consumed sparking a mounting spiral of need.

He shouldn't let her do this. Not twice in one night.

But their clothes went away all the same.

Then Holly was under him.

He filled himself with the taste of her breasts, suckling with a skill that already had her writhing under him. A touch to the dark curls between her legs found her swollen and wet. He slid experimental fingers inside, seeking just the right spot to caress.

Holly moaned. The sound speared him, making him even harder. Working as slowly as he could, he drew out her pleasure with the patience of a craftsman. She dug her heels into the sheets, her neck straining as he stroked and circled her inside and out. Then, with a kiss to her most intimate place, he brought Holly to a hot, slippery, helpless climax.

It pleased Alessandro that he could do that without his bite. Some human skills were well worth preserving.

But that was just the starter course. He allowed a moment for the appetite to recover.

He cuddled her, stroking, coaxing her limbs back to life and kindling new fires of sexual hunger. She slid her leg over his body, the flesh of her thigh petal-smooth. She settled over his erection with ease, gently, slowly, drawing him tight inside the blessed warmth of her body. They rocked gently, building energy with steady, relentless friction.

Now his hungers began to demand their due. Holly arched her back, the light painting the architecture of her body in golden relief, the globes of her breasts moving in rhythm with their bodies. She was making little noises, leaning forward now, shifting to get just the right angle, stroking longer and harder.

The visuals were dazzling.

Her mouth fell open, eyes closed with concentration. He could see the mounting tension, beautiful and wild, taking shape in her features. She found release with a cry.

The leash of his own needs slipped, but he relentlessly caught it, holding on. A rush of wetness cascaded inside her, the convulsions caressing him. She found his mouth, her lips against his in a communion of sex and bliss. A torrent of energy, feminine and witchy, tingled over his skin in beguiling waves.

Ah, there were limits to even his control. He rolled her to her back, bracing himself for maximum thrust. His mouth ached with the need to taste her.

First he had to bury himself inside again and again. Her breasts shuddered with each driving plunge. He was past mere pleasure. His hunger fought loose, male need driving out all thought but taking her for his own. She panted under him, driven again to the brink of madness, the scent of her arousal only lashing him on. He heard a feral noise that must have been him, and then a final paroxysm shattered his body.

He felt his seed spill as a sharp, choking hunger tore him from within. Suddenly it was impossible to draw breath. Orgasm became a sharp new desire as human impulse fell away, senseless and satiated.

All that was left was the vampire. The beast.

That did not mean he was not tender. He slid down, cupping one arm under her shoulders. He kissed her, kissed the place where he had already plundered her life, licked the wounds open with the savoring caress of a connoisseur.

She arched her throat, giving him access as he bit down.

He shuddered, hardening again as her life flooded into him, sliding down his throat with all the potency of strong liquor. A storm of pleasure took him, leaving him gasping, heavy and drugged with pleasure.

He throbbed, all of him, aching for more, his stamina barely tapped. There were good things about being a vampire.

The night was young, and the banquet had just begun.

When Holly woke it was to an afternoon light. The question was which afternoon, which day.

She was spooned against Alessandro, one of his arms a heavy weight across her side. She expected to feel pain, but did not.

What she did feel was the mix of their powers woven like a cord between them, twining through their sex, through their blood. Her magic had somehow blended with his vampire energy, fused in a crucible of lust. Above that, his venom sang in her veins, a barely banked wash of heady desire. Venom. I'm trapped. Oh, Goddess.

But, strangely, she wasn't afraid. Is that the venom lulling me? Or do I really have nothing to fear? Holly had never felt so thoroughly sated. She wriggled under the weight of Alessandro's arm, turning so she could face him. He was in the deep, deep rest of the Undead, pale but peaceful, his hair a tangled mass on the pillow.

Strange clarity pushed away the fog of sleep and sex. She had lost blood, but she felt strong. She knew she