Zahara leans in. I try to wait, to be patient, to follow her lead. But then, like the brute I was raised to be, I strike.
Chapter 6
Zahara
The man is lying. He has to be lying. I’m not buying that a four-hundred-year-old vampire has not kissed a woman in all his unnatural life. But I don’t care if it is all a lie, a bit of a Roman-tic game to loosen me up, because hell, can the lying fiend kiss.
He made it seem like he didn’t know what he was doing when I first brushed my lips to his. Now that he is brushing his lips against mine, it is clear he knows exactly what he wants. And what he wants is me.
If I hadn’t known that from Frankie still stirring beneath me, like lightning was striking volts into his balls, then I would know it by the way Virius growled low and deep in the back of his throat at the second brush of our lips.
At first, I was the only one out in the storm. Now, Virius is with me every step of the way. Using his lower lip, he tests the touch of my top lip. Moving his head back and forth in a slow, sensuous motion, he covers every part of my mouth, from the corner, to the seam, to the divot at the center.
I feel devoured by this man, and he isn’t even using any tongue. Not that I’ve had anyone tongue kiss me before. Unless he’s lying to me, this is the first kiss for both of us.
The more Virius’s mouth moves against mine, the more I begin to believe him. Not because of his inexperience. Because of how he revels in the experience.
It’s the same way that I am getting caught up in the unfamiliar contact. We both take our time exploring. There is no rush to get to a particular part because it’s all new territory. From the way he pulls me closer with each stroke, and the way I come to him without protest, I gather we both are thoroughly enjoying this brave new world.
The moment Virius’s tongue sneaks from his mouth and into mine, I lose control. His licks are not tentative flicks. He’s a man trying a new dessert, as though he knows he will clean the plate and order a second serving.
He licks at me in long, silky strokes. Then his tongue disappears into his mouth to savor what he’s captured. After another of those low growls, he licks again. And then again.
Virius bites at my bottom lip, tentatively, as though he thinks he might hurt me. I should be worried that he’ll bite me. That is his natural instinct. But he only nibbles softly, as though I am an appetizer. When my lips part, he starts in on the main course.
He licks into my mouth like I am a rare steak. His tongue sweeps over me, devouring me. I meet his tongue finally. The first flick of my tongue catches the sharp side of one of his fangs.
I feel the tiny pinprick like a needle. Then there’s the metallic taste of blood. Virius’s tongue circles around mine. He snatches the droplet away and then sucks. Hard.
I should be afraid. A vampire has tasted my blood. But the feel of him pulling from me, the knowledge that he is swallowing a piece of me down, it turns me all the way on.
I squirm in his lap, needing to feel the same kind of friction between my thighs. Frankie coils beneath me, ready and eager to slither his way into my depths.
Virius’s hold on me tightens. His hands lock me down so I can’t wriggle away. Not that I’m trying to escape.
The anaconda between his thighs slithers higher and throbs at my core. It pokes at the bud at the apex of my thighs. Like Eve, I want the snake to take a bite.
Somewhere in the room, a throat clears behind us. I wonder if it’s the voice of God. Is he looking down from on high and showing his displeasure at the sin about to go down beneath the garden on the surface?
I don’t have the chance to look up to see if it’s the Heavenly Father. I’m being thrown onto the bed. Virius puts himself between me and the throat-clearer. His large body blocks me from seeing who has come into the locked room. The menace that runs off him should scare me, but it turns me on.
I’ve had men protect me before. But each one had done it for his own gain. I know without a doubt that Virius is sticking his neck out for me because he wants to please me.
If I were a weaker woman, I’d reach up and twirl my hair. I’d swoon back on the bed and let him fight this battle for me. Unfortunately, that’s not the woman I was raised to be. That level of inaction isn’t how I was taught to move through the world.
I look over to see Itzel standing in the doorway. My aunt is no match for this vampire. But like the fierce warrior she is, she holds her ground, teeth bared and dagger in hand.
When I try to move around Virius, he puts out a meaty paw, holding me back. Does he still not realize who is the captor and who is the captive here?
“Down, boy,” I say. I get off the cot and move around him. “This is Itzel.”
“She’s your kin?” asks Virius.
Technically, she’s not my blood. Both my parents are dead. I have no direct relatives left. But I do claim the women of this tribe as my family. So, I nod to Virius.
And just like that, the menace rolls away from his large body. His entire being changes from one of destruction to a teddy bear—a soft grizzly of
