City of the Fallen (10 page)

By the time Miles came to get her, she was going insane with anticipation.

The minute she got back into Marcus’ room and saw the outline of his form in the darkness, a weight lifted and she could finally relax. She let out a sigh and immediately realized she’d been half-breathing the entire day.

“You can sit down, Belle.”

Belle
. The nickname sounded like music on his lips.

She found a plush sofa and sat down.
God, he’s beautiful
. In the semi-darkness of the room, his eyes almost sparkled. Every time he moved, the ripples in his muscles flexed and tensed up. Flashes of skin against skin looped through her mind.

She blushed and he groaned in response.

“Stop it,” he whispered. “I can hear your heart from here.”

She took a deep breath and tried to steady the beating in her chest. Then he got closer to sit on the couch and her heart went on a frenzied dash again.

Damn it.

 
“You have no idea how tempting that sound is,” he said.

It was taking all of her willpower not to move closer. Judging by the tightness in his neck and shoulders, it was obvious he was feeling the same.

“I need to talk to you,” he said. It sounded almost like a complaint.

She nodded, mainly because she wasn’t sure she could actually speak without moaning in the process.

Before she even realized what she was doing, she licked her lips. Marcus groaned and frantically reached for her, his mouth closing on hers. There was none of the gentle touch of the night before. No exploring or waiting for a reaction.

Without breaking the kiss, he picked her up and moved her over to the bed. She felt weightless in his arms, her mind reeling in his power. She wasn’t sure how it happened, but most of their clothes were off in seconds. His scent, earthly and otherworldly all mixed into one, washed over her. It was intoxicating and she had to catch her breath because she felt like falling, sliding quickly into a dark abyss of fire and craving. 

His mouth reached for her breast, then slid down her body, leaving branding marks everywhere he touched, searing, scorching heat taking over until it hurt. Until she wanted to cry out in desperation, begging for more.

His lips and his tongue moved over the inside of her thighs, teasing and tasting. With one finger, he reached down and pulled the elastic of her underwear off, the last remaining item of clothing between them gone. Then he slid the finger to rest over her swollen clit, starting a slow circling motion. Her gasp reached towards him like a wave, enticing and feverish. She could feel his hunger reaching out in return, pulling, demanding satisfaction. The craving of the beast, hammering to get out and take what it needed. What it craved.

He had an effect on her that she couldn’t explain. Once he touched her, any sense of control in her shattered, ramped-up ache and need consuming her.

The combination of his tongue and his fingers on her were driving her insane. When his tongue circled her clit and then plunged into her, she bucked into him. It was too much. Everything about him was too much. The intensity of his touch, the way he seemed to enjoy her taste, the longing he awoke in her.

Then his fangs grazed the skin of her thigh and her whole body stirred. The groan that came out of his throat in response was so guttural, so basic and primitive, it shook her to the core. 

Teeth reached higher, following a trail up her thigh until they reached the throbbing pulse of a vein. Right at the crease of her thigh, so she could almost feel his breath rolling over the swollen lips of her sex. She let out a moan and he growled in response, sending delicious waves of heat up and into her, filling her and driving her insane with lust.

His teeth pressed just a little harder and the sensation was so erotic, she couldn’t hold back a cry. The realization of what he was about to do hit her just a couple of seconds before his fangs pierced her skin. He sucked on the blood flowing out, grunting as he savored the warmth of the liquid rushing in.

A flash of agonizing pleasure ripped through her body, the orgasm hitting her hard and unexpectedly. As she was coming, waves of pleasure ripping through her, he moved in between her legs and rammed into her. She was pulsing from the orgasm and the invasion felt on the edge of painful. Lusciously painful and breaching and 
oh-so-amazing
. Her muscles clenched around him, holding on tight.

“I’ve never wanted anybody this much, Belle,” he said and the words dug into her with unexpected force, reaching for her mind, for her soul. “Seeing you come drives me insane.”

Her core tightened as the words rippled over her. She thought it wasn’t possible for her to come again, but then he pumped harder into her and something stirred, feeding the hunger and making her entire body shiver. He was so big and so deep inside her, she felt stretched, invaded. Taken. 

He moved again, grunting every time he rocked his hips against her. His beautiful features were taut with restraint, a predatory glimmer over his cheekbones and the tight curve of his neck. He was holding back, trying to maintain control. And she desperately wanted him to let loose, to be so overcome with the fire that he couldn’t think, couldn’t do anything except pound into her.

She pushed into him, her hips deepening the invasion, stretching her more. He grew bigger, tighter, hotter, both inside her and over her skin. His control frayed, edged over the abyss. Then he opened his eyes and looked at her, a current of heat crackling between them, irradiating with such intensity, she could almost feel her skin smoldering.

“I want you to come again, Belle,” he grunted, then rammed inside her again. 

The words made her gasp, tension and need building higher until she was moaning along with him. 

He grabbed her thighs, holding her against him as he pounded harder and more feverishly. Reaching so deep she thought she might break. And then she wished would increase the pressure, the soreness, the delicious torture building inside her. 

“Marcus… please, more,” she purred, her head heavy with the buzz of hunger and need. 

A flash of darkness crossed over his face, making her moan. He reached down to kiss her, a hint of violence in the tongue invading her mouth. He tasted so real, so humanly raw. He growled into her mouth, the edges of his control blurring away.

And then the threads of her desire snapped and she came with a ferocity that made her whole body spasm. She gasped for air as the waves of ecstasy slashed into her body with unforgiving intensity.

He pulled away from her mouth and rammed into her once, twice more, riding the orgasm with her until he exploded, ripples of breathless pleasure cutting through both of their bodies.

“Ah, Belle, damn it…” he rasped, deep and raw. He spurted into her for what seemed like minutes. Thick, hot, pulsing. And also open and vulnerable, giving himself to her, to the pleasure they shared.

His body collapsed on top of her, crushing her into the bed. She was still breathing heavy when he finally rolled off her, already calm and in control again. He didn’t go far, pulling her into his arms, legs entangled and heat oozing from his body and into hers.

Her lids were heavy, satisfaction making her body feel lavish and lingering.

“Is it always like this with humans? For you?”

His body tensed and the beating of his heart against her ear got just a little louder, more insistent.

“It’s never been like this, Belle,” he whispered, tightening his arms around her. “It’s never been so… intense, so dark.”

Her heart fluttered.
Darkness
. So he felt it too. All-encompassing, so powerful it scared her. And still, too exquisite to ignore. Too beckoning.

She helplessly searched for something to say back, drawing a blank. Because she was finding it impossible not to agree with him.

When he pulled her closer, melting her into his body, she was glad to be distracted.

“What do you think of the compound?” he whispered and the sound resonated against her ear, sending shivers through her body.

She guessed what he was really asking was,
Is it so bad here?
And the truth was that it wasn’t. She could somewhat understand the attraction of living in the compound. Food, safety, protection. And at least for her, pleasure. But in the end, she was still a prisoner. Nothing but slaves, her brother used to say. They were kept alive because they served a purpose.

“It’s a nice prison, I guess,” she answered.

Marcus’ eyes darkened just a notch. She expected him to say something but instead he slid his hand towards her naked chest, making her gasp.

He smiled and her heart skipped a beat. It was the first time she’d seen a full smile on his face and she liked it. It was a wicked smile, the kind that said,
I’ve got this power and I know it
. It was also a glimpse into his vulnerable side, his human side. The side that made it easier to forget what he really was.

“I’ve never had an
uncharmed
human respond this way to my touch before. Something tells me you like it.”

She did.

“Maybe I’m faking it,” she taunted him.

Marcus’ hand slid higher, until it was resting on her left breast, almost touching her nipple but not quite. The breath caught in her throat and her heart sped up, heat searing through her before she even realized what was happening.

Damn her body.

“I don’t think so.” He lowered his head to whisper the words against her lips.

She hated that he was right about this. She hated even more that he was nothing like she had expected the king to be. He was smart, passionate and a hell of a lot sexier than a vampire should be.

And her mind and heart were in a raging battle.

Kill him.

Love him.

Enslaver.

Lover.

Her biggest fear was that the longer she spent in his arms, the easier it would be for her heart to win the battle. And that wasn’t something she could allow. That would be the ultimate betrayal—of her brother, of the people she had left behind. It would be betraying herself, even though part of her felt she was already doing that.

Marcus’ lips closed over hers, awakening her body again, fueling the betrayal that flowed through her veins. He gripped her tightly, ravishing sounds escaping from her throat or his or both in a confusion of pleasure and need.
As she closed her eyes and pushed against him, nails digging into his back, all she could think about was how exquisite he felt.

And, God help her, just how much she wanted to keep feeling him.

~*~

Belle felt pulsing and soft in his arms. It was the life pulse that only humans could provide—and that he suddenly couldn’t get enough of. He swore internally. Every second he spent with Belle only served to increase his cravings. Not only for her blood, but also for her energy and how she made him feel.