The world fell away the moment she closed her eyes.
Chapter 4
Sometime later Claire awoke to Lucian moaning. She turned toward him and her increasingly improved vision warmed up. He looked better, but he seemed to be in some kind of distress.
The chains suddenly spoke to her. He was no longer suffering from the deprivation of blood, but from something else.
Her body seemed to know and responded accordingly, as warmth climbed her cheeks.
She slipped from under the covers and rounded the bed to the other side. He was wide awake and lucid, but his lips were parted.
Claire. His voice was sensual within her mind. Be with me. Please. I need you.
She’d wanted him from the first, but this was new territory.
She felt flushed and hot. They were alone, in a private room, and the door was locked. Only the dim lamplight burned.
She wanted Lucian. She valued and respected him, which caused her own need to soar. And the time with him at the club, especially the kiss they’d shared, had somehow opened the gate for her.
Her gaze slid down to his chest, his pecs heavy with muscles, his ni**les in tight beads.
The single sheet that covered him had formed a tent at his groin. And he was still in restraints.
She licked her lips.
Lower the sheet. I want you looking at me. All of me.
She hesitated. It was one thing to feed Lucian, to give up her lifeblood, but another to engage with him physically. Part of her knew she shouldn’t—if she had sex with him, she’d become much more attached than she should.
Yet she wanted this with Lucian more than she wanted to be careful and wise. As one enthralled, she picked up the edge of the sheet and slowly peeled it away from his body, taking it all the way to his bound ankles.
Lucian came from her mind unbidden. You’re beautiful.
I love that you’re looking at me. I’ve wanted this. From almost the first moment I saw you in the cave, I’ve desired you.
She nodded as her gaze became fixed on his erect cock, then on the line of hair leading toward his navel.
His abs flexed and released.
His h*ps rolled. He turned toward her slightly and arched his h*ps so that she watched his c**k thrust.
Her body responded in kind, clenching deep.
“I can smell your sex, your desire, Claire.” His voice came out in a soft purr. “Please come to me, give me release. Your blood has eased the madness, but now I have a new kind of agony.”
Maybe it was because the vampire used his manners; Claire would never be sure. But some kind of meet-your-vampire’s-needs insanity took over her mind. She reached down to the hem of her T-shirt and pulled up and up, stripping slowly. His gaze raked her face, the slope of her neck, then drifted down to her br**sts.
She leaned over so he could see her cle**age. His lips parted and his gaze fell to half-mast. She moved closer, leaning over him from the side of the bed.
With her bra still on, she eased her chest down to his lips and watched his tongue emerge. She lowered herself until he could lick the swell of her br**sts.
He groaned. Claire. My God. Claire. More.
She reached back and unhooked her bra, tossing it aside. She fed him a nipple. He latched on and suckled. And it felt so good.
Look at me. His voice in her head commanded her.
His eyes had a wild look, but very different this time from his earlier blood-crazed expression. Each tug on her breast brought an answering pull deep between her legs.
Claire couldn’t blame the blood-chain. She needed this, too, and she needed Lucian now.
She slid her hand down to his hip, lower, until she could stroke the crown of his cock. He moaned and suckled her breast harder as she ran her thumb over the wet tip, then slid it lower to caress the ridge, playing with him.
Desire shot through her, demanding more. Claire had never experienced anything so erotic in her life. Not only was her own desire heightened by their chains, but she could also feel what he was feeling. Panting, she pulled back, then slipped out of her jeans, losing her thong at the same time.
He watched her, breathing hard now, deep gulps of air, as his gaze flew over her body.
She leaned over his c**k and took him inside her mouth.
His back arched and he groaned so loud that she was sure he would come just like this. She drew back, giving him a moment. When he settled down, she returned, sucking gently, letting him feel the pleasure of what had been denied him during the year of his imprisonment.
Blood and sex.
The touch of a woman.
His most basic needs.
“Enough.” His hoarse voice filled the room.
She didn’t wait for instructions or permission but climbed up on the bed. She swung a leg over his h*ps and mounted him. He was a big man with a big cock, but Claire was more than ready for him as she glided down on all that enormous, wonderful girth.
She closed her eyes as she seated herself. She heard his breathing, very light gasps, as if he was afraid if he felt too much, he’d spend himself way too soon.
She eased up and savored the length of him, then slowly lowered herself again. She gave herself to enjoying what felt so completely forbidden.
Sex with a vampire, a man who was essentially a stranger to her.
His h*ps flexed as he pushed himself inside her.
“Do you want me to release your hands? Can you control yourself right now?”
He nodded.
Maybe she shouldn’t have, but she took the risk and released the restraints, freeing his hands. She needed more of him, his hands touching her, fondling her. She wanted all of him and the moment his hands grasped her hips, she planted her fingers on his abs and slowly glided her hands up.
“Claire,” he murmured, his voice hoarse.
She lifted her h*ps at the same time, feeling the length of his c**k once more: pleasure on pleasure.
She moved faster as her fingertips reached his mouth and he groaned, his h*ps flexing again. His hands dipped low, grabbing her bottom and holding her firmly. He took over, thrusting up into her, increasing the speed.
She leaned down and kissed him, bit him, sucked on his lips until they parted.
She took his tongue in her mouth and suckled him.
He pushed into her harder.
His arms wrapped around her back, pulling her closer. She wanted to be closer. The vein in her neck throbbed and a different kind of need rose. She shifted her face away from him, which put her throat in close proximity to his mouth.
His tongue licked the length of her neck, over the vein.
She groaned as he thrust and as his tongue teased her sensitive skin.
She wanted more of the forbidden. She wanted him to bite her while her h*ps worked him hard.
* * *
Lucian rode the edge of ecstasy as he never had before. The blood-chains and his recent starvation worked together to forge a passion that moved like a roll of thunder through his body.