Quicksilver and exotic, it was nothing like the pungent copper red cells of the humans she had fed from all her life. But then, she should have known Zael’s blood would be a powerful, intoxicating force. Like the male himself, his blood dominated her senses, owning her from the very first taste.
Each sip she took from his vein streaked into her system like liquid fire, awakening her every nerve, fiber and cell. She couldn’t get enough. Drinking from him made her feel as though she’d been dying of thirst for centuries and was only just coming to life for the first time.
He had done this for her—awakened her, brought her to life. Dragged her out of the shadows and into a brilliant, irresistible new light.
He’d done all of that for her from the moment they met.
Now this.
His blood would live inside her forever. That bond was unbreakable. It settled on her so profoundly, she wanted to weep with the power of it. Wherever either of them went now, together or apart, she would always feel him. She would know his joy and sadness and every pain.
But in a troubled corner of her conscience, she also knew that if the day should come that he looked at her in all her monstrous worst and felt regret for this moment—for having brought her into his life, she would feel that too.
Right now, all she felt was his love.
Her heart overflowing, she licked her tongue over the punctures her fangs had made, sealing the wound. Zael’s arms were warm and strong around her as she lifted her head to look at him. He held her in a sober, unblinking stare. His blue eyes had never seemed so dark or so solemn.
For a moment—one terrible, brief moment—she worried that she would see doubt in his handsome face. Or worse, the beginnings of the revulsion she dreaded might one day come.
But the bond told her something different. So did Zael, as he tightened his hold on her and flipped her beneath him on the bed.
His mouth came down on hers in a kiss so primal and raw, it nearly unraveled her on the spot. He was wild with passion now, and she felt every measure of it in the bond that now linked her to him.
“Oh God, Zael.” Her voice was little more than a broken, panting sigh.
It was all she could manage. She had neither breath nor voice as he spread her out and began a fevered exploration of her body with his lips and wicked tongue.
Her pleasure exploded now that it was combined with his. The blood connection to him multiplied her ecstasy, and the power of her desire twined with his was almost too much to bear. She arced off the mattress as his mouth latched on to her clit. Hot and wet and relentless, his tongue licked and sucked and teased her swollen bud. When his finger slid inside her sheath and began to thrust in time with his mouth’s torment, she spiraled toward a pleasure she could not contain.
Her orgasm crashed over her like a tidal wave. It swept her high and left her shattered, totally at his mercy.
And he gave her none.
She was still soaring, every nerve ending electrified and vibrating with bliss, as he prowled up the length of her body, then entered her on a low snarl of possession. He drove deep, deeper than she thought possible. Her head tipped back on a gasp, her hands fisting in the sheets as he rolled his hips, hard and fast and claiming.
“Look at me, love.” His rough command brought her searing gaze back to him. “Watch me take you. Know that you’re mine. Tell me you feel it.”
“Yes, I’m yours. I feel it, Zael.” She stared up into his eyes, swamped with pleasure and emotion. And so much love. It filled her with a growing, powerful light. His light, inside of her now. “Oh God, Zael. I feel…everything.”
“Show me.” His gaze burned with intensity as he pushed her higher, ever higher. “Let me feel it too, Brynne. Let me taste it, right now.”
She frowned, uncertain she understood. Afraid to hope.
But the truth was there in his eyes. It was in the emotional connection she had to him now—the one he was asking her to complete with him. He wanted this. He wanted her bond.
Would he want it when she was at her worst?
The question scraped at her coldly. Yes, he had seen her in the throes of blood thirst. He knew what she became then.
But to feel it in his own blood? To know the savagery that filled her when she was less Breed than monster?
Bonding him to her meant bonding him to everything she was, including the part of her that was Ancient. How could he ever look at her with desire—or with any kind of affection—if she let him take that hideous part of her into his own soul?
The fear that he would regret it made her veins freeze up.
The very thought that he might one day look at her in revulsion or loathing was too much for her to bear. Especially now, when he was holding her so lovingly, making her wish for things she could never have.
“Zael, no.” Extricating herself from his embrace, she pushed away from him and scrambled to the edge of the bed.
“What’s wrong?”
The concern in his deep voice made her wince in misery. When his hand came to rest gently on her shoulder, she flinched. Stood up abruptly and moved out of his reach.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I can’t do this. Neither should you. Please… You should go.”
“Go?” So much confusion in that one word.
He got up from the bed and walked toward her. His face was drawn with bewilderment, and with tender affection. Seeing his care for her now only reinforced the dread that if she let things go any further with him, that love would turn to disgust.
“I
