Destructive Embrace (6 page)

Looking into his eyes once more, I saw
no trace of Zeke’s usual self. He’d suddenly morphed from his usual
woman-beating self into a man with feelings for the woman before
him.

Warmth spread through me unexpectedly,
and I sighed. Before I could say anything, Zeke leaned back in to
kiss me, moving forward so my back was once again against the wall.
I strained against my chains.

At the sound of them clanking, Zeke
snapped away from me. He seemed to remember what we were doing in
the cell; I held my breath as I waited for the beating to
resume.

A devious smirk appeared on his face,
and I braced myself. “Why are you suddenly fighting against your
chains?” he asked. “Are you craving more than a kiss?”

My face heated and I
scowled at him. “I was taking advantage of your moment of
weakness,” I lied. The reality of why I’d fought against my chains
was as Zeke guessed: letting him kiss me
wasn’t
enough. I bit my lip and shook
my head in denial.

He laughed quietly, moving toward me
once more. Zeke placed his hands on my hips and smirked down at me.
“All you ever had to do was ask, love,” he said. I frowned, hoping
he meant that all I had to ask for was my release, but was certain
that he didn’t mean that.

Zeke bent over to unchain my ankles,
and I gasped. Maybe I was wrong.

“Zeke…”

“
Zeke…”

The whisper of my name sent a wave of
warmth through me. I set my hands on her waist and lowered my face
to her neck.

“
Let me down,” Elyssa
breathed, tilting her head to the side. She fought against the
chains and I chuckled.

“
Ask me nicely,” I told
her, nipping at her cool flesh. She shivered, but shook her head,
defiant even though her need was apparent.

“
Just one small word,
Elyssa,” I breathed, trailing my hands up her sides to brush the
pads of my thumbs against the underside of her breasts before
stepping away.

Elyssa’s eyes snapped to mine quickly,
and her body sagged back against the wall. Blood had rushed to her
face and chest – a sight I’d grown accustomed to since her arrival
at the castle.

The indecision on her face reminded me
that she wasn’t some heartless tramp who would screw anyone around.
She was important…

I placed my hands on either side of her
slender neck again and leaned down to capture her lips in a soft
kiss. I slid my hands across her shoulders and along her arms to
where her wrists were shackled.

As soon as the clank of metal signified
her release, her arms were around my neck, holding my face to hers
urgently. I laughed into the kiss at her frenzied actions, and
wrapped my arms around her waist to lift her off the ground. Her
legs clasped around my waist and I carried her to the table in the
main part of the dungeons.

I backed up to the table and sat down
on it, holding onto Elyssa so that she was straddling my lap as I
sat. She was raised slightly above me on her knees, the fabric of
her jeans barely brushing against mine. Elyssa leaned down to kiss
my neck.

I released my hold on her, sliding my
hands under what was left of her shirt. I felt goosebumps rise
beneath my fingertips and sighed. Elyssa lifted her head, a curious
expression on her face.

As she opened her mouth to speak, I
captured her mouth once more, delighting in the startled gasp that
came from her.

The skin of her back was astonishingly
soft. I ran my hands along the length of her back as we kissed,
trapped by the smoothness.

Her petite hands traveled up my torso
at a painfully slow pace; I felt goosebumps trail after her caress
and gripped her tighter, digging my nails into her skin. Elyssa
hissed, pulling away from me. She tugged on my bottom lip with her
teeth as she moved away, and my arousal grew uncomfortably hard. It
caused the fabric of my jeans to rub against her leg, and a smirk
lifted the corner of her mouth upward. My eyes rolled back in my
head as Elyssa scraped her fingernails along my scalp. I tilted my
head back and she ducked down to trail kisses along my neck once
more.

I was supposed to be in control, I
realized as she began to grind against the bulge in my pants. But
the friction was so delicious…

I brought my hands around to her front,
letting them dance up her stomach to cup her breasts through her
bra. She inhaled sharply, pressing her chest more firmly against my
hands.

“
Kiss me,” I demanded
softly. Elyssa nipped at the flesh of my neck for a moment longer,
before lifting her head to look at me. Her face was red, eyes
half-lidded with desire. Slowly, she brought her face to mine,
kissing me once; the barest brush of her lips to mine. It still
sent a jolt of electricity through my body.

I slipped my hands out from under her
shirt and gripped her thighs. “Hold on,” I told her. She complied,
arms winding around my neck. I kissed her once more as I lifted us
off the table. My grip was steady as I lowered us to the
floor.

“
Here?” Elyssa questioned
breathily. I grinned and slammed her down on the floor. She hissed,
arching her back in pain.

I knelt above her. “Stop questioning
me, pet,” I whispered, leaning over her to kiss her neck. She
lifted her hands to thread them through my hair and sighed. I
reached behind my head to grasp her hands and held them over her
head against the floor.

“
Stop,” I murmured,
bringing my gaze up to meet her green eyes. She looked away and I
released her hands and she let them slowly migrate to my shoulders.
Her stunning eyes met mine again, and I held her gaze as I let my
hands wander up her shirt again. I took my time, fingertips
pressing carefully against her skin, and lowered my mouth to hers
as I finally cupped my hands over her supple breasts.

Elyssa kissed me back eagerly, pressing
her soft tongue to my lips. I opened my mouth to allow her
entrance, and met her tongue with mine.

I broke the kiss so I could pull her
tattered shirt over her head, and met her mouth again
hungrily.

Elyssa hiked her legs up over my hips
and held on tight, raising herself up to grind her center against
my arousal. I didn’t want an over-eager romp though.

Prying myself out of her hold, I shoved
her down roughly. I pressed my hand against her throat, and
growled. “Knock. It. Off,” I hissed, baring my fangs at
her.

She narrowed her eyes at me and hissed
back, before I pressed down on her windpipe. The passageway
squeaked as she tried to breathe, and I smirked. “Good girl,” I
whispered.

I lowered my head to her chest and,
releasing her throat, pressed her bra out of the way. I kissed the
valley between her breasts before darting my tongue out to run it
along her skin.

She gasped and gripped my shoulders,
her nails biting into my skin through my shirt. The fabric
prevented her from piercing my skin, but I was certain that bruises
would form if she held on for too long. I pulled away from her,
letting the cold dungeon air touch her skin where my lips had
previously been. A whine left her lips and I chuckled.

“
You’re going to leave
marks on me, my sweet,” I told her quietly, prying her hands off my
shoulders with little difficulty. Elyssa was very compliant under
my touch; whether she was distracted by our play or that she just
didn’t want to hurt me, I wasn’t sure.

Her look was apologetic, and she snaked
her hands up to dangle loosely from my neck. The tips of her
fingers toyed with the ends of my hair. Having my freshly cut hair
played with felt nice, and I sighed. Suddenly I remembered who I
was supposed to be, and shook my head. Having her so close, within
my grasp and so ready beneath my touch, was heady.

But maybe it wouldn’t hurt
to drop my defenses for a short while, to spend time with
her.
The woman you love
, I reminded myself.

I set my hand against her face
tenderly, staring down into her eyes. The idea of baring all of my
emotions was terrifying, but for Elyssa, I might just be able to do
it.

There was just something
about her that attracted all of us. Well, all of us, with the
exception of Wyatt, the oldest, most boring of us. But the rest of
us mere men fell victim to her charms. Like
we
were the humans and she was the
cunning, irresistible vampiress.

In reality, she'd captured
us all before she was even turned. There was just something about
her eyes that drew me in. The way she carried herself added to it,
but the main cause of me falling so hard for her was the way she
showed all of her emotions whether she meant to or not. There was
nothing hidden from me when I stared into those emerald-colored
eyes, and there wasn't anything I couldn't read about her just by
watching the way she carried herself and how she behaved around
others.

It wasn't as though I was
privy to her interactions with others on a regular basis, though.
Most of what I learned came from spying on her, when I was
uncomfortable with the idea of outright spending time around her.
She was unpredictable to a certain degree – and that degree was
almost outside my reach.

"Elyssa," I whispered,
leaning down to touch my mouth to hers. It was a chaste kiss,
something schoolboys would steal from the girls, but it was
perfect. It conveyed everything that I needed to get across to
Elyssa. Or, I felt that it did. If she was unable to feel it all,
she was more dense than I'd ever imagined her to be, and therefore
she was undeserving of the feelings I had for her.

I held back a chuckle. It
was impossible for me to lie to myself, especially in regards to
Elyssa... I adored her no matter what, regardless of how dense she
might or might not be. Even if her brilliant eyes couldn't quite
manage to see my feelings, she was still perfect to me, still the
one I would love for a long time coming.

I was startled out of my
thoughts when she tugged my head down and began to nibble on my
lower lip. She didn't do it with the intention of getting me all
riled up once more – it was more of a tentative nip, like she
wasn't sure if I would allow her to act on
anything
she wanted – but the effect
was the same as if she'd sensually taken my lip into her mouth with
the goal of making me ravage her on the spot.

A groan escaped me, and I
held her face in my hands, afraid to let go. The nipping turned
into a kiss, which I deepened immediately. I was tired of not
having her. She would be mine as I had desired since her
arrival.

"Zeke," she whimpered as I
moved my mouth along her neck and jawline. The sound was sweet to
my ears, a noise I wasn't likely to forget anytime soon. Elyssa was
whining, craving
my
touch. It was heaven.

I brought my lips to hers
once more with a new feeling inside me. I didn't ravish her mouth,
but I wasn't kissing her like a scared teenager. It wasn't
something I could easily describe. Her response matched mine;
deliberate, but not slow or boring. My hands wandered up her torso,
cupping her breasts outside the cups of her bra that had fallen
back into place. She probably couldn't feel much of my touch
through the padded bra, so I slipped my hands inside the cups.
Elyssa gasped as I teased her hardened nipples with my
fingertips.

She arched her back,
feeding her breasts into my hands even more, and I reached around
her to unhook the bra. Slowly, I slipped the garment from her body.
Pulling away from our kiss, I watched the blush creep into the skin
of her chest. Using my fingertips, I traced her collarbone before
bringing my hands back down to her exposed beauties. "Perfect," I
said, letting a groan escape from my lips as my hands covered her
breasts. Each mound fit perfectly into the palms of my
hands.

"Please."

It was one word, yet it
held so much in it. Her voice was throaty, scratchy in such a sexy
way; my member struggled against the fabric of my jeans just from
the sound of it. She needed me. Elyssa was giving herself to me
willingly, begging for my touch and my caress.

"Anything for you, love," I
breathed into her ear. I used my tongue to trace the shell of her
ear teasingly, making her gasp once more. Teasing her was fun. It
was something I'd always known, but this kind of teasing was
different; it was something we both enjoyed.

But I wanted to get down to
business. I knew Elyssa was ready for it as well.

Slowly I removed myself
from her grasp, pressing kisses to her body as I moved down it.
First her neck, that most delectable area of her flesh. Next my
mouth traveled over her breasts, lingering on each of them for just
a moment each before I moved downward to kiss the smooth skin of
her belly.

I sat back so I could
unfasten her jeans – the fabric covering her upper thighs torn from
the beating earlier – and gently tugged them down over her hips.
Slowly I pulled them down her slender legs, running my hands along
her skin as I uncovered it. She was amazing.

I tossed the jeans off to
the side and crawled back on top of her, supporting myself with my
elbows as I pressed my mouth to hers again. "You're perfect," I
said in between kisses. Impossibly, I felt her face heat even more,
and she tangled her fingers in my hair, kissing me hungrily.
Compliments worked; who knew?