The Wicked Kiss (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #2)

Pleasure flooded me, and the moisture grew between my thighs. I clung to Harley as he fed from me, wanting to feel more of him. More pain, more pleasure. My thoughts were dominated with the aching need to have all of him.

As Harley pressed deeper with his fangs, I squirmed against him, unable to fight the amazing sensations. There was a small sense of rationale left in me that urged me to fight back. If only I actually wanted to. The vampire energy in the room was too strong, and it literally swept me away. When he lifted me in his arms and carried me to the bed, I barely even noticed.

I moaned when he placed me on the soft mattress and slipped his fangs from my body. He licked and sucked at the oozing wound as my blood flowed. I wrapped my arms around his neck, holding him close like a lover.

With one hand, Harley stroked the inside of my thigh, and I shuddered in his embrace. His power called to mine, encouraging it to grow and to envelope us in a heady glow. It was electrifying, and yet it was nothing like anything I’d experienced with Arys.

My power didn’t try to bond with Harley’s. Instead, it seemed to roll over and around his energy, tasting and enjoying it, but never becoming one.

He brought his head up to look at me, and my intentions wavered. His eyes were absolutely jet-black, and my blood smeared on his lower lip reminded me that I should be afraid. Very afraid. I was an idiot. I had played right into his hands and proved to be less than a challenge.

“My God, you taste divine.” Harley licked his lip slowly, sensually. He smiled as if intoxicated. I tried to get up, and he pressed me back against the bed with a hand on my chest. “I have to do it, Alexa. I must make you mine.”

His words hit me like a punch in the guts, and I shook my head, confusion slowly becoming clarity as I fought to see through the desire he ignited in me.

“No,” I whispered, struggling to find my voice. I looked to Kale, unconscious on the floor, then back to Harley. “Get off of me.”

“I was hoping you’d fight. In fact, I was counting on it.” Kneeling over me, he pinned my wrists above my head in a move too smooth to have not been practiced. “This is going so much better than I’d anticipated.”

My stomach turned as a wave of nausea hit me. If his intention hadn’t been clear before, it certainly was now. I knew what he wanted, and I couldn’t let it happen. He was going to try to force me into a blood bond. And, if I kept succumbing to the false sensations of pleasure, I wasn’t going to be able to put up a fight.

I tried to tap my power, but I couldn’t maintain focus as I wrestled to free my hands.

“You don’t want me, Harley. I am a werewolf, a mated Alpha. I can’t offer you anything.”

“Don’t insult my intelligence, sweetheart. You’re going to take my blood and complete this bond one way or another. I’ve taken more than enough from you. It’s already begun.”

Hot tears stung the back of my eyes as I furiously tried to blink them away. Though I couldn’t recall exactly how I’d gotten myself into this situation, I was pretty sure it had to be my fault.

Harley never took his eyes off me as he raised his wrist to his mouth. He bit into it with a warm, wet sound that both tantalized and horrified me. The scent of his blood almost caused me to salivate as the bloodlust rose up inside me. I licked my lips, the temptation to taste it commanding me to reach for his arm.

Everything inside me that was wolf warred with Arys’ undead needs. The wild animal in me refused to be dominated by this male. Two men could take that role with me, and he was not one of them. The two powerfully opposing sides of me faced off, and I whimpered in confusion.

He brought his bleeding wrist closer, and I leaned as far away as I could. He’d have to drain me to the point of death in order to turn me into a vampire this way, but that wasn’t what he sought. Harley wanted to blood bond me so that Arys never could. And, by doing that, he would seal my fate. Upon my mortal death, I would rise as a vampire, bound to him forever.

The thought truly was worse than death itself. I’d rather he killed me then and there.

As badly as I wanted to run my tongue along the bleeding punctures in his wrist, I was wolf first, and that ruled me. I made the decision consciously, and something inside me snapped.

With a snarl, I jerked my bound hands free and sat up with my fists flying. Harley’s head snapped back as I caught him with a mean right hook. He was momentarily stunned, giving me just enough time to roll off the bed as he grabbed for me. I hit the floor hard and scrambled to my feet.

He lunged off the bed at me, blood dripping from his self-inflicted bite. The scent hit me, and my will started to crumble. I wasn’t going to be able to hold out much longer, but I’d be damned if I would go down without one hell of a fight.