Laboring to keep up with his swift stride, for her limbs still shook from the magical ceremony in the clearing, she said, “You must think me in grave danger to need the allegiance of the entire Bloodguard.”
“That’s not the entire Bloodguard, if you must know. There are more of us.”
“There are?”
“Yes.”
“Where are they?”
“Not here.”
“Why?”
“They are needed elsewhere.”
She sighed, shaking her head at his vague response, then tripped on a fallen branch. He spun and scooped her in his arms, without a word, then sped vampire-swift to her cabin.
He nudged the door open and set her on her feet, but she kept her hands locked at his neck.
He glided his fingers up her arms, gripped her wrists and tugged gently, but she held fast, gazing up at the strong lines of his grim countenance. The devotion of the Bloodguard brought the cutting realization that she didn’t have his devotion. Still, she couldn’t ask him for more. She wasn’t a selfish creature, but her vampire instincts still pushed her to kiss him, to take him, to keep him for her own. The contradiction of need and doing the honorable thing twisted her heart.
Jerking her hands from his neck, she spun and walked away, wrapping her arms around herself. Standing before the fire, she stared at the dying embers, the orange-gold coals bringing her no warmth at all.
“What is wrong?” he finally asked.
She didn’t want to tell him. But she also did. How did this man twist her into such a maelstrom of stormy emotions? She’d always been quiet and composed, even sage-like with others. Her empathic gifts had helped her steady the keel, keep the balance of the world around her. But not since Captain Mikhail had stepped into her life.
Glancing sideways, she once more noted his flushed complexion at the jawline, his eyes glittering more brightly, his pallor less stark. All signs of a good feeding. She’d ignored it before, but the thought of him feeding, being with another woman ripped her insides out.
“You’ve fed well recently.”
“A vampire must feed.”
“Earlier today, you told me you heard rumors of Dominik setting a ransom on my return. Did you overhear that in Hiddleston?” Her heart pounded violently in her chest, not wanting the answer but needing it all the same. “Where you fed on a bleeder?”
His expression darkened, not in anger, but in something close to guilt. “Yes.”
She turned her gaze back to the fire, not wanting him to see the hurt in her eyes. Swallowing the lump swelling in her throat, she unbuckled the belt and dagger he’d given her and tossed it to the floor. The door closed.
“You know I must feed,” he said gingerly, stepping farther into the room.
“Yes. Of course.” She lifted the poker and stabbed at the embers, doing little more than causing sparks to spit up in the air. “You’re a man with other needs as well, so…” She shrugged and let that thought die before it could cross her lips, putting the poker back in its place against the stone mantel.
He stalked closer with heavy steps. Facing him, she forced her gaze to meet his, taking two steps back.
“Yes,” he grated. “I do have needs. But I didn’t…it’s not what you’re thinking.”
Angry heat flared up her neck and into her cheeks. The beast within her breast demanded voice, and she couldn’t stop herself. “Did she taste good?”
“Stop it.” With long, steady strides, he closed the small space between them.
Crossing her arms in defense, she matched his steps in reverse till the backs of her thighs hit the bed. “Did you feed before or after you…bedded her?”
He gripped her around the upper arms, pressing his chest to hers, though her crossed arms formed a barrier. “I didn’t fuck her,” he grated with dark intensity.
“But you wanted to.”
“No.” He tilted his head lower till his lips hovered in aching closeness to her own. “I wanted to fuck you.” His voice shook with passion. “I still do.”
Her body trembled once more with the desperate need of this man, her eyes sliding closed on the blissful thought of him being inside her.
He was honorable and loyal and true, eager to follow the noble path. But he was also strong and passionate and sensual. Though he may not know it, his aggressive demeanor and tantalizing strength were a beacon to the woman newly awakened within her bosom. He held it all so in control. The she-beast inside wanted it unleashed…on her.
“You’re killing me slowly, Mikhail,” she whispered on a trembling breath, leaning closer, her bottom lip brushing his. “I won’t ask you to betray your brotherhood. I couldn’t dare. Not after tonight. After what you all did for me.” Her voice cracked, but she held it together, sucking in a deep inhale as she pressed her palms over her abdomen. “But it hurts, Mikhail.” A tear slipped down her cheek. “It hurts so much.”
He manacled his large hands around her arms. “Don’t,” he commanded.
She knew he meant the tears, the angles of his face growing sharper by the dying firelight.
“I can’t help it.” As if her admission opened the dam, tears fell freely.
“Goddammit. I can’t, either,” he breathed on a harsh breath before he tossed her on her back diagonally on the bed. He was on his knees, straddling her waist, whipping off his belt with a snap of leather and a clink of buckle.
Startled by the explosion of action, she sensed the sex-laced tension whipping from the man on top of her. “What are—”
He grabbed her wrists and wrapped them with the belt twice, slid her body up, and buckled the belt around the wooden bedpost.
“Mikhail—”
His lips were on hers. Not a sweet, questing kiss. But one of control and dominance. Before she even felt her bodice loosen, it was unlaced and opened, then Mikhail’s large hand mounded her breast and squeezed. She arched into his touch and moaned, long and loud. He broke the kiss, staring down with the wildness of a frantic beast, caged too long with the need to dominate his prey.
“The pain in your eyes tears me to the heart.” His voice was gravel-rough. “I’m going to take care of you.” He murmured the dark promise against her lips, trailing his tongue along her lower lip.
“Like before?” she asked on a relieved sigh.
“Better than before.”
He pinched her nipple through the thin fabric of her gown and chemise. She whimpered and nodded. “Yes.”
He unlaced the drawstring between her breasts and scooped the blouse down to expose her breasts, the bottom of the bodice jutting them up. The cool air heightened her sensitivity, her nipples budding under his hungry gaze. Dipping his head low but holding her gaze, he licked a path around one nipple before sliding down the slope of her breast and across her sternum to the other.
“Is this what you want?” he ground out.
She nodded and bit her lip to keep from moaning too loudly.
“Answer me. I want to hear you say it.”
His hand was under her skirts, hiking them higher, his calloused fingers skimming up the inside of her thigh.
“You want my lips on your skin?” he asked in an authoritative tone, sounding more like a command than a question.