CHAPTER 22

Lucien propped his head on his palm as his fingers slid through her wetness as his dick strained against his jeans. “Tell me what’s bothering you,” he said as he teased her with a finger.

She gasped, and her hips rose toward him. He worried his words might push her away, but he suspected she was as far gone to him as he was to her, and he needed answers.

He watched her every reaction as he learned what she enjoyed the most. When he stretched her further and slid another finger into her, her eyes started to close again.

“Keep looking at me,” he said.

They opened again, and when they met his, he saw the ecstasy and uncertainty in her gaze. He despised that uncertainty. Determined to make sure she had nothing but faith in him, he teased her as he listened to her sounds of pleasure and her hips matched the rhythm of his hand.

He watched her with an intensity that Callie found as unnerving as she did exciting. No one had ever studied her with such possessive, raw desire. She’d always felt a little self-conscious with her past partners, but she didn’t with him.

It was impossible to feel self-conscious when he was looking at her like she was the most beautiful woman on earth.

He edged closer and pulled his hand away. She groaned in disappointment until he gripped the waistband of her jeans and started tugging them down her hips. He held her eyes the entire time, and though she knew this was a hideously bad idea, her ass lifted off the bed so he could pull the jeans lower.

He tossed aside her pants and settled beside her again. “Tell me what’s bothering you,” he said as he ran his hand up her thigh.

Unable to tolerate not seeing her, he pulled back the blankets to drink in her long, taut thighs and the patch of trimmed, black curls between her legs. He couldn’t stop touching her as he took in her beauty, but he required answers.

“Tell me what upset you,” he commanded.

Callie gulped as his eyes devoured her and something in his gaze sent a shiver down her back. The ravenous way he stared at her both excited and unnerved her. His eyes found hers again as his hand slid between her legs once more. She arched into his touch, but he didn’t enter her again, and she knew he was waiting for an answer.

“That woman,” she whispered.

“What about her?” Lucien asked as he removed his hand from between her thighs to grip the bottom of her shirt.

Callie lifted her arms as he tugged her shirt over her head and tossed it aside. She hadn’t bothered to put a bra on after her shower. It was bad enough sleeping in jeans; she couldn’t handle her underwire digging into her boobs all night too.

His gaze latched onto her breasts, and that ravenous spark came into his eyes again. She’d give anything to forget what brought them together, and there was no better way to do that than to lose herself to this magnificent man.

“What about the woman?” Lucien prodded as he drank in her lush, curvy figure.

She was achingly lovely with her full breasts and rounded hips. As he skimmed his knuckles beneath her breasts, he realized he would never get enough of touching her. But he wanted so much more. Lucien met her eyes again as he gripped the button of his jeans, undid it, and pulled them down.

“She enjoyed what you did to her.” But then, Callie thoroughly enjoyed what he was doing to her too as he stoked the fire inside her ever higher.

Lucien didn’t move as hope flared in his chest. Desire was one thing, but jealousy might mean there were feelings involved too.

“And you didn’t like that?” he asked.

“No, I didn’t.”

He just stopped himself from grinning like an idiot. He didn’t have to be an expert in women to know she would not appreciate that. Lucien kicked his jeans aside before rolling on top of her; he pushed his thigh between hers.

“Then I won’t do it again, at least not in front of you. I have to feed, but unless I have no other choice, I will feed only on men from now on. Would that make you happier?”

Callie’s eyes widened. “You would do that for me?”

I’d do anything for you. He almost blurted those words out, but he managed to hold them back. “Yes.”

Bending his head, he lowered his mouth to hers and nibbled on her enticing bottom lip. He ran his tongue along it as he enjoyed the warmth of her breath against his lips. When her mouth parted, his tongue slid inside, and he tasted her in slow thrusts that had his dick aching to match the pace he set.

However, he was determined to savor her as he kept himself propped up on one hand while the other explored her enticing curves. Cupping one of her breasts, he enjoyed the fullness of it as it spilled out of his hand a little.

He ran his thumb around her nipple before giving it a small pinch that caused her to gasp. He enjoyed her reaction as he turned his attention to her other breast and mimicked the motion. All he wanted was to be inside her, but he took it slow as he learned more about her. He ran his hand down her belly to the junction between her thighs.

He pried his mouth away from hers to watch her reaction as he stroked her clit. “Do you like this?” he inquired as he teased her entrance.

Too much. The man—no, the vampire was like a drug. She couldn’t get enough of the way he made her come alive.

No one had ever touched her with such reverence and confidence. She was like a powder keg building toward an explosion, and he was the match. This was a giant mistake, but her brain no longer had control over her body, and she was extremely happy about that.

When his red eyes met hers, she saw the demand for an answer in them. “Yes,” she said.

“How about this?” he inquired as he shifted his hand.

“Oh, yes,” she breathed as she squirmed against him and lifted her body demandingly toward him. She was tired of being teased.

“Not yet,” Lucien murmured and kissed her again before pulling his hand away.

Before Callie could protest, his mouth moved down her body to her breasts. His tongue laved one nipple before he tugged it gently with his teeth; then he turned his attention to her other breast. Her body begged for release, but she was fascinated by his sandy blond head moving further down her body.

When his tongue dipped into her belly button, she entwined her fingers in his hair and held him as he moved lower. Her pulse thundered with anticipation when he nipped at her hip before sliding his hands under her ass.

This was all moving too fast, but she loved every delicious second of it as he lifted her ass off the bed. She kept waiting for self-consciousness to kick in, especially when his eyes latched onto hers. He stared at her with a greedy hunger, both exciting and unnerving as his breath warmed her clit.

Then he bent his mouth to her, and she stopped thinking as his mouth settled over her. Callie kept her hands entangled in his hair as she pulled him closer while he tasted her until she was little more than putty in his capable hands.

She’d been tongue fucked before, but never like this. Before, it was always a quick thing that was just starting to get good when it ended. Now, it was as if Lucien loved every second of what he did to her as he used his tongue and fingers to make her rock demandingly against him.

Lucien dragged her closer as he relished the sweet taste of her on his tongue. Before this was over, his scent would cover her inside and out.

She was soft and delectable as her cries became louder. When she was nearing climax, he used his tongue to push her over the edge. He tasted her orgasm before lowering her ass to the bed and leveling himself over her.

Her eyes were still dazed when they met his. A small smile curved her mouth, but he didn’t give her time to come completely down before he grasped his cock, guided himself to her entrance, and plunged inside.

Callie bit her lip as he settled deep within her. She’d never been with someone so large before, and it took her a minute to adjust to him. He seemed to sense this as he remained unmoving inside her.

His red eyes locked on hers, and as they stared at each other, the red faded from them and a pure, raven black color replaced it. Callie barely breathed as those beautiful, black eyes stared down at her. That black was the real color of his eyes; she knew it as well as she knew the feel of his chiseled body against hers.

This was the real Lucien. She hadn’t seen him at his strongest, but she knew she was staring into the eyes of the man who existed before his imprisonment. An unexpected heartache bloomed in her chest as she lifted her hand and rested it against his cheek.

When she first met him, Callie never would have believed she could come to care for this man, but somewhere along the way, she had. And that could prove to be more treacherous to her than the Savages.

When he withdrew before plunging into her again, it was still a little uncomfortable, but she was adapting to the size of him. She lifted her hips to take him deeper as she threaded her fingers through his hair and held his gaze.

Lucien couldn’t tear his eyes away from hers as he moved within her. She was so tight, hot, and wet it took everything he had not to come as soon as he entered her. However, he was determined to have her experience ecstasy again before he found his release.

The second he entered her, something inside him shifted and changed. What that something was, he didn’t know for sure, but he knew he’d found his mate. He’d discovered where he belonged, who he belonged with, and he was never going to let her go.

She smiled as she dragged his head down and kissed him. He didn’t taste like blood, as she’d originally expected. Instead, he tasted of something wild and free, as well as the minty flavor of toothpaste.

His hands caressing her body caused her to tremble while their kiss deepened into something more tender and infinitely more perilous to her heart.

As they moved together, sweat slickened their bodies, and she cherished his rigid body against her breasts and belly while he took and gave in ways that had her yearning for more. She was on the verge of begging him for release when his hand slid between their bodies and he stroked her clit again.

She’d just orgasmed, but his touch set off another wave that caused her toes to curl as she cried out against his mouth. Her fingers tightened in his hair, and she bit her lip as her eyes rolled back. She’d believed she couldn’t get any higher than earlier, but she was wrong.

Lucien caught her cry with his mouth as the muscles of her sheath clenched around his shaft. He groaned as he found his release inside her.

Shaking, Lucien gathered her in his arms and pulled her against him. He remained buried inside her as he rolled to the side and cradled her against him.

Lucien inhaled the fresh scent of her hair as he hugged her closer. There wasn’t much in his life that he’d ever been sure of, but he was certain he would never let her go again.