She loved the incubus.
Eddie released the hammers of his revolvers and slowly lowered them. “Bella?”
The young woman with the angel wings peeked out from behind her lover. Her husband. Her maker. Her mate. Whatever he was. Blue eyes met his, wavering and tearful. She was silent.
“I love you, Bella,” Eddie choked out. “And—and I wish you all the happiness in the world.”
He turned from them both, not caring if the demon ripped his head off in the process. He holstered his guns and walked toward the exit of the church.
“Goodbye, Eddie. I’ll always remember you.”
Sometimes that was all a man could ask. He pulled up the collar of his coat.
Shouldering his heartbreak, he knew he would cry and drink for years over what he had lost. Assuming he lived for years, of course. Which wasn’t by any means a guarantee. But right now? Right now, he knew exactly who to blame for all this mess. Exactly who he was going to make suffer.
Right now, he had a Vampire King to kill.
Or he’d die trying.
Eddie was fine either way.
“You wish me to take you? Do you want to feel what it is to be my prey?”
She nodded weakly.
“Then…far be it from me to deny such a wish.”
The cold marble against Maxine’s back was a stark contrast to the heat coming from the creature over her. She wound her fingers into his clothing and found no words to argue.
Her choice had been made. But she wanted to feel the warlord once more. She wanted to be the lamb in the field, and have the wolf sink his fangs into her flesh. She wanted to surrender to the man and monster she loved.
When the world disappeared around her, she shut her eyes and embraced it. When the world upended suddenly after that, she wasn’t certain for a moment what had happened, until she was lying on a soft, silk-covered surface.
He knelt over her. She watched as he stripped her of the remainder of her clothing until she was naked before him. He shed his own clothing and draped himself over her. An arm on either side of her, caging her in, all she could see was him.
Leaning down, he kissed her—he conquered her. It was bruising and possessive, violent and needy. He would be the creature she had come to love. She did not wish him to be gentle. She needed to feel that beautiful ache that he could bring to her.
When he broke the kiss, she tilted her head away. Not in rejection—but to bare her throat to him. “Please,” she whispered, her hands resting on his sides.
With that wonderfully low, inhuman growl, he lowered himself and trailed his tongue up the tendon of her neck, sensual and hot. She gasped as he wasted no time in digging his teeth into her tender flesh.
She could make no other noise as pleasure crashed over her like a wave. Not only pleasure—but him. All consuming, all encompassing, she let it overtake her. She would die like this in his arms, and he would soon die in hers.
And she could think of no better way to embrace the void.
Oh, Maxine…She might feel like the conquered. But she could not fathom how he was the one broken and subjugated. He would worship her for as long as he was allowed before she broke him beneath her will.
He would bring her to every height he knew how to reach. As he sank his fangs into her throat, she moaned and pressed her naked breasts against his chest. He hooked her knee over his arm and took her, sheathing himself in her volcanic depths, gentle and careful. He knew he was too much to take all at once without her body adjusting to him first.
Her pleasure peaked instantly, and she writhed in abandon beneath him. The power of their embrace that spanned blood and body would threaten her consciousness, but he would keep her on the edge until he was done with her.
Then together, they would die. He was overjoyed. His wonderful empath had surprised him once more. She could no more accept his cruelty than she could deny her love for him. And so she had chosen not to kill him or to obey him—but to do both.
Beautiful, wonderful, brilliant thing. He wondered if God had finally forgiven him and sent him an angel of mercy. He could think of no other explanation.
He worked his body inside hers to the shared tempo of their hearts. He was