Conflict filled me as anguish over his words warred with comfort. Until I really knew what that meant, I could find neither solace nor regret in his words.
I gripped him with claws that cut deep red ribbons into his flesh. Every time he filled me, he brought me closer to the edge. He was aggressive, as if he couldn’t possibly get deep enough. We were as close as we could physically get, and still it wasn’t the union I ached for. Despite the fervor in which he made love to me, his kisses were soft caresses. But, only until his patience ran thin.
With a hand tightly entwined in my hair, he forced my head to the side and bit deep. My heart thundered in my ears at a deafening level as my blood poured into Arys’s mouth. I had a moment of clarity, and I wondered if my life would end in his hands. Maybe not today but one day. If our destiny was to destroy each other, that might only be fitting.
I gasped for breath, unable to fill my lungs. Time felt non-existent. I had no conscious awareness of what time it was or how long it had been since I’d dropped the journal. All I knew was the pleasure and the promise of Arys’s mouth on my bitten neck and his body declaring me as his.
He drove me headlong into the flames of passion that threatened to consume us. I was free falling through the throes of climax while my heart stuttered in an erratic beat. The metaphysical energy we’d called pulsed around and through us. It was too much for me. I couldn’t breathe nor could I escape it. It was inside me, part of me. And for a moment, I thought it would kill me.
Blood trickled from my nose. My head felt as if it would burst. Arys’s name was on my lips, but I couldn’t speak. He sucked at my bloody neck. When he raised his head, my blood was smeared on his lips and teeth. Realizing that the power we’d drawn was more than I could safely conduct, Arys stripped it from me, effectively freeing me from its deadly hold.
I clung to him as I sucked air into my lungs. There was a hum in my ears, and tingles shot through my limbs. The bite on my neck throbbed in time with my racing pulse.
“Are you ok, love?” Arys pressed the side of his face to mine. “That was intense. Too intense for you.”
My voice was raspy with the wolf. “I’ll be alright. I might get a hell of a headache though.”
Arys rolled over beside me but stayed close, pressed to my side. After tugging the bloodstained pillow from beneath my head, he pulled me into the safe confines of his embrace. I snuggled in against him, my head on his chest while he lazily stroked a hand through my disheveled hair.
“That’s been happening to you a lot lately. The nosebleeds and headaches. I don’t like it.”
I wiggled my fingers, watching as the claws retracted. There was blood on my fingertips. “I’m fine, Arys.” I felt better already. Besides, he was in worry mode lately; I wasn’t going to feed it.
He wanted to say something more. I could feel it. After a long moment of contemplation, he gave in and spit it out.
“I don’t think it’s fine. I think it’s starting to become more than you can handle.” His hold on me tightened possessively. “It’s dangerous.”
I swallowed hard, willing myself to relax. My mortal body had been the subject of concern before, regarding the power we shared. My body bound me to the earth and to the wolf, but his undead energy was never meant for a living being. Together Arys and I were life and death, a nearly unheard of combination.
The full extent of what we were capable of was still unknown to me. I’d already decided that I wasn’t ready to become a vampire. It would happen upon my death, something I planned to avoid as long as possible.
“Hey, what happened to enjoying the afterglow?” I asked, setting his worry aside.
He grinned, but I could see that it was forced. My intent wasn’t to downplay his concerns. I simply didn’t want to think about them right then. After a violent, messy expression of love, I wanted nothing more than to allow the illusive peace that came after to sweep me away. Reality could wait.
Chapter Eight
I didn’t come to the office much anymore. Since I’d killed the man who had run it, I’d had little reason to return. Back when I’d been hunting idiot vampires that drew the wrong kind of attention with their kills, this had been grand central, where we all came to regroup and to unwind.
Now, it was just a building that housed many memories. The kitchen was where I’d found Jez in a pool of her own blood the night Kale attacked her. My office down the hall was where Kale and I had succumbed to temptation for the first time. And, the main office at the very end of that corridor was where I’d killed my former boss, Veryl Armstrong.
I closed the front door hard when I came in, announcing my arrival. Noise from the kitchen greeted me. Lilah looked up suddenly, mild surprise creasing her brow.
“Alexa. Hi. How’s it going?” She asked, closing a cupboard so fast it slammed.