Desire Unchained

“Like in the dungeon?” Lightly, so he wouldn’t realize that he’d forgotten to restrain her, she settled her palms on the warm skin of his shoulders. “When you could have died?”


“Not that bad. We barely got started just now. I’m not that worked up yet. I’d have gotten over it eventually, but you’d have wanted to stay the hell out of my way for a couple of hours.”

Her heart did a little flip that he’d have suffered for her, and dammit, it shouldn’t be flipping for him for any reason. It seemed to be looking for any excuse to fall for him again. Clearly, it had a very short memory.

Shade tongued her nipple, shattering her thoughts. “Can you feel me?”

She smiled, because oh, yeah, she could feel him stretching her sensitive inner walls, sliding across the spot inside that made her wild. “Uh-huh.”

He seized her left arm, the one he’d said should gain mate markings to match his, and her heart sank, because she wanted to be able to touch him, just this once.

“Not that. I mean, can you feel me? Did you sense my shift into a warg? Did you feel my mood this morning?”

Locking her ankles behind his back, she writhed against him, annoyed that the talk was interfering with the lovemaking. “No. Nothing. Am I supposed to?”

“I think so.” He broke her leglock and pushed himself off up her. “Stay there.”

Her body shook with need as he stalked out of the room, but he was back within moments.

And he was carrying a kitchen knife. “Um … Shade?”

“Shh.” He mounted her, sank into her with a hard thrust. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“I know.” How she knew, she wasn’t sure, but in that moment, she just did.

For a heartbeat he froze, but then he was pounding her into the mattress with ruthless, delicious force.

Her climax came out of nowhere. Shade slashed his wrist and brought it to her lips as she peaked. Coppery wetness flowed over her teeth, her tongue.

“Drink.” His voice was a husky command she couldn’t resist even though every instinct screamed against this. She remembered doing it in the strange dream-sex they’d had in the dungeon, the sex that had been imaginary but at the same time, very real.

Unable to stop herself, she took long, greedy pulls. With every swallow, her climax climbed higher, went on and on. His blood was like liquid sex, and as he pumped into her and found his own release, hers wouldn’t stop. Orgasm after orgasm thundered through her, and each time she thought she was finished, another would overtake her.

Gradually, she became vaguely aware of Shade’s weight on top of her, of his labored breaths, and of his rumbling voice.

“Runa?” He tried to pull his arm away, but she’d latched on with her teeth and was gripping him with her hands and no way was she letting go. As long as she drank, she came, and … “Runa!”

Ecstasy rolled over her and kept coming. A twinge of pain streaked across her cheek, but she didn’t care. The pleasure had consumed her, taken her higher than she’d ever been.

The pain intensified, and through her orgasmic haze she realized Shade was squeezing her jaw, forcing her to open her mouth. Reluctantly, she released him, and he jerked away, clutching his forearm.

She moaned, unable to move as her amazing climax melted away. “What happened?” Her voice was a drugged, barely audible slur.

One corner of his mouth turned up in amusement, which surprised her, given the pain he must be in. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were half vampire.”

Sensation spun up again. Lust built, exploded, and she convulsed with another release, her body bucking wildly. Shade watched her with hooded eyes, his gaze shattering in its intensity.

“Beautiful,” he whispered, his voice touched with awe. “You’re so beautiful when you come.”

She felt beautiful when he looked at her like that. Beautiful and vulnerable.

Panting, she fisted the sheets. “Why? Why make me drink you again?”

On some level, she knew she should be disgusted by the fact that she’d swallowed his blood, but after nearly a year of eating raw flesh three nights a month, she’d become a little desensitized.

“You don’t have the mate marks yet. I’m hoping another try will make them appear.”

“Maybe not all species get them.”

Shade’s gaze skipped away. “Maybe.”

Sitting up, she grasped his forearm. “What are you not telling me?”

“Nothing you need to worry about.” He stood, pulling out of her grip. “We need to go. We’ll hit your place first to pick up some clothes. After that, we’ll run some tests on you at UG, and be back here by nightfall.”

Part of her mission for R-XR was to learn as much as she could about the demon hospital, so this was a great opportunity, but following that order felt wrong now. Like a betrayal.

God, she had enough to be concerned about without dealing with whether or not she should disobey her commander. Who also happened to be her brother. She’d have to check out the hospital and decide what to do from there.