He took her up fast and hard, keeping his eyes on her face, wanting to watch the helpless pleasure on her face as she came apart. He loved that dazed look in her eyes and he kept moving in her, not allowing her to come down, feeding that fire so one orgasm ran into the next and she turned into his little cat. Writhing. Claws raking, her body demanding. Her hips rising to meet his, her need and hunger etched into her beautiful face. He loved that. Loved it.
She gave him her surrender three times, and he watched each time. Feeling it. Satisfaction. Knowing he gave that to her. Knowing the addiction was every bit as strong in her as it was in him. The fourth time he took her up he went with her, allowing the tidal wave consuming her to sweep him along with her. He took her mouth, groaning down her throat, pouring himself into her, feeding his own hunger.
Take my blood. Feed from me. He needed her mouth on him. More, he wanted her to know she could do that without aid. The hunger was in her. He felt it beating at him. She needed. He provided.
She didn’t move. Aleksei lifted his head and looked down at her, his body still hard in hers. Still feeling every afterquake. Every ripple.
Her gaze moved over his face, assessing his mood. “I can’t.” She whispered the denial. “I’m sorry. I can’t.”
He kissed her. Hard. Wet. Demanding. He kept kissing her until she melted into him again. Until her body clamped down on his and she was kissing him back. He kissed his way down her chin to her throat.
Remember how I tasted? Taste me now, Gabrielle. He whispered the temptation in her ear, sent it into her mind. Into her body.
Gabrielle closed her eyes against the power in Aleksei’s voice. Her body clenched hard around his. He was sin. Pure sin. She could taste him in her mouth.
I belong to you. That taste, kessake, that is all yours. Just yours.
For the first time, she felt the slide of teeth, the sharpness there. She cried out, closing her eyes, shaking her head.
There is no need to be afraid. Give this to me, Gabrielle. I need this from you.
She could hear her heart pounding. She wanted to give him anything he wanted. She didn’t have any other way of pleasing him. Of giving back to him what she’d taken away, but if she did this . . . If she gave this to him she would be giving more of her humanity away. Piece by piece they were taking her until she didn’t know who she was anymore. Tears burned behind her eyes. She was so lost. Fear choked her. She needed to scream. To run. To fight. For self-preservation.
“Stop.”
The one word spoken aloud shocked her. His voice was a whip of an order and she realized she was fighting him. She was choking on her own screams. The tears did fall even though she was so certain she had controlled them. Her hands were pinned to the carpet on either side of her head. His body was on hers, covering her, allowing her to feel his full weight and his immense strength. His cock was still buried deep and she felt him like a steel spike, growing even thicker and longer, the dominant in him responding to the fight.
“I’m sorry.”
“Talk to me. Right now, Gabrielle. Give me truth.”
Ohgodohgodohgod. She had sworn she would tell him the truth. She had sworn it. To him. To herself. How could she possibly put this into words he’d understand? She licked her lips. Swallowed hard.
“Give me your eyes and give me the truth.” It was a demand.
“Aleksei.” She whispered his name, a plea, needing to touch him. Needing an anchor. He held her hands down and his face was implacable. His eyes burned into her. Seeing her. Seeing the mess that was her.
“Give me you.”
She shook her head. “You don’t understand. There is no more me. I’m so lost I don’t know who or what I am anymore. I woke and I was buried in the ground. Like death. You said Carpathians don’t dream, but I do. I have that horrible nightmare over and over and I can’t get out of it. Humans don’t take blood. They don’t crave it or need it and yet I do. But if I do this for you, on my own, without your help, there is another piece of me gone and there are already so many pieces gone, I can’t find me.”
She felt the tears on her face. She hated admitting how truly screwed up she was to him, but then again, he had the right to know. He knew he wasn’t getting a bargain with her. He knew she had forced him so close to becoming the very thing he’d hunted for centuries. She could barely look at him; her gaze kept sliding away because she was ashamed. She was humiliated. Embarrassed. She wanted him but she didn’t. She loved his body, but she didn’t know how to give him anything more than sex, and he deserved so much more.
“Keep your eyes on mine.”
“I’m trying.” She gave him that.
“Kislány.” He released her hands and rolled so that she was on top, sprawled over him, still connected. He brushed at her tears very gently with his thumb. The movement forced his cock deeper into her and she felt her sheath spasm around him.
Her heart turned over at the gentleness from him. At the sound of his voice. That wasn’t his little cat endearment. She knew it was more like the human form of baby. Or little girl. Whatever it was, it caught at her heart.
“No matter how lost you are, I will find you. No matter how many pieces are scattered or lost, I will find them for you and give them back to you one at a time. I am your lifemate. You are safe now, Gabrielle. You will always be safe with me.”
She shook her head. “How can you find me when I don’t even know who I am?”
“It does not matter, little one. I have you. You can shatter into a million pieces. You can feel torn apart and lost. I will hold you safe. You cannot go anywhere that I cannot find you. Let go, Gabrielle. Let go of what you cling to. Your body trusts me or you would not be able to fly so high. You ignite for me. When I touch you. When I kiss you. When I take you so hard, so rough, you still trust me. Let go. Give all of you to me, not just your body. I will keep you safe.”
“I don’t know if I can, Aleksei,” she whispered, more tears spilling over. “I want to give you everything. I do. I’m not being stubborn. I’m so terrified. I have been my entire life.”