Drantos (VLG Series Book 1) (27 page)

“I’d wither without you faster. I’ve touched you and know how you make me feel. I can’t walk away from that. It would kill me for sure if you weren’t in my life. I wouldn’t want to go on.”

She stared deeply into his beautiful eyes. “You really mean that.”

“You sense the truth. I will never lie to you.”

Maybe falling in love this fast is possible
, she admitted silently.
I love him. How can I not? The guy is telling me he’d rather suffer untold hell just to be with me if I want to live in Los Angeles and he’ll die if I leave him.

“What are you thinking?”

“What about other women? I won’t tolerate cheating, and I mean
my
definition of that, not some weird VampLycan one. It means you aren’t allowed to touch another woman and they aren’t allowed to touch you. I’d leave you so damn fast your head would spin if you did that to me. I’d never forgive you.”

Hope etched onto his features so clearly it was easy to read. “I give you my word. Once we cement the bond, my body will only respond to yours.”

“What does that mean?”

He turned to face her, spread his thighs, and revealed how hard he’d become. His cock jutted up thick and proud. “You’re the only woman who will do
this
to me. We’ll bond and no one else will be able to compare to you. I don’t want anyone else, Dusti.”

She couldn’t look away from his cock. Her nipples hardened just at the sight of him in all his glory and that urge to climb in his lap grew stronger. Only now she didn’t just want him to hold her. She wanted to ride him, feel him inside her, and she knew dampness spread between her legs. Just thinking about having sex with him made her ache to do it.

“What are you doing to me?”

“We’re mates. Your body knows it, even if your mind doesn’t. It’s why you crave my touch and react so strongly to me. You’re not completely human, Dusti. This is how VampLycans react to their mates.”

That made sense, in a weird way.

“I’m only going to get hard for
you
, sweetheart. That’s what I’m saying. If we complete the bond, you become a part of me and my body will only react to yours this way. Another woman could rub all over me but to put it in terms you’d understand, it would be like someone dragged their claws along a chalkboard. It would just irritate me and make me angry. I’d have the reverse reaction. I’d soften and remain that way, regardless of any stimulation she tried.”

“Seriously? That’s tough to believe.”

“Believe it.” He frowned. “I wouldn’t lie about that. We are true mates. Only matings that aren’t strong fail to get that kind of physical loyalty from the couple.”

“What if she blew you?”

“I wouldn’t enjoy it. I wouldn’t harden. Have you ever had a man touch you and it revolted you? It would be like that.”

She studied him closely but saw honesty reflected back at her. “Damn. You’re saying you’re pretty much dependent on me for sex then, right?”

“Yes. You don’t need to look so pleased about that.”

“Have you ever trusted someone completely, only to find out the person cheated on you?”

“I’ve never been in that kind of relationship.”

“It devastates you. When a man cheats it makes you feel as though you weren’t enough for him, and even though you know its bullshit, it just crushes you inside. Every aspect of what you had with them suddenly is all fucked-up. You love someone and they betray you in the worst possible way. It rips your guts out.”

Anger darkened his features. “You loved a man before?”

“I was married. I mentioned that.”

A snarl tore from his throat and he moved quickly, rising to his knees and pressing her back until he’d caged her under his body.

Fear of him struck Dusti instantly while she stared up into his face inches above her own. His parted mouth showed sharp fangs.

“No, you didn’t.
I’m
your mate.”

“Oh. I thought I’d told you about that. I was married when I was much younger but it didn’t last long. He was a cheating piece of shit.”

Drantos snarled again.

“Stop that. You’re scaring me.”

“I’d never harm you. It just enrages me that you loved before. He was important to you if you made a commitment to him.”

“You’re jealous?”

“Yes.”

Her hands trembled slightly as she reached up to cup his face. He didn’t flinch away but instead pressed tighter to her palms, rubbing against her slightly to encourage her touch. Her fear melted away.

“I don’t love him anymore, Drantos. It’s in the past. I was younger and came to the conclusion that he wasn’t the man I thought. We ended up being strangers. I think I wanted to love an image he represented, instead of the person he really was. He wasn’t ready to settle down to be with one woman. Do you understand?”

His anger left as quickly as it had come. His fangs retracted. “You’re my mate.
Mine
, Dusti. Love me. I won’t ever hurt you.”

All reservations she had evaporated with his heartfelt plea.
Love him
?
I do
, she acknowledged. She nodded and knew she’d made the right choice when he smiled tenderly at her.

“What does completing a mating take?”

He lowered down on top of her, pressing her gently between the grass and his firm, warm body. He braced his elbows next to her ribs to keep enough weight off her chest for her to be able to breathe easily. She only hesitated a moment before spreading her thighs to give him access. He sank his hips between them and she wrapped her legs around the back of his thighs to entwine their bodies. The sarong easily parted to allow for close contact.

“It’s a process. We share blood, have sex, and open ourselves to each other to help the bond lock into place.”

“That sounds kind of hot except for the blood part. How do we open up to each other?”

“Don’t hold back from me. Open up to me. Your heart, your mind, and your body.”

“Okay. I can do that. What about the blood?”

“You take from me and I take from you during sex. We do that to help become a part of each other. Your VampLycan genes will respond to my blood, as mine will to yours.”

“You’ve traded blood with different women.” She hated to remember that bit of information she’d gotten out of him.

“It’s not the same. Please don’t look at me that way. If I’d known it would cause you pain, I never would have done it. It’s how we test to see if we’re mates. It really couldn’t be avoided. Their blood was only a taste in my mouth. Yours is life to me that spreads through my entire body. Do you understand?”

“You’re really good at knowing what to say to a woman to make her feel special.” She smiled and let his past go; it helped that he wouldn’t taste any more women in his future. “Charmer.”

“You
are
special to me. You have no idea.”

“I was a little confused about what Aveoth was saying when he started talking about history and records but I understood some of it. Is that why your father doesn’t like me? And what does being generous with your blood mean?”

“He was informing me that if I shared my blood with you while you’re pregnant, that our children will be born strong. I’m the firstborn of my father’s children. It’s my responsibility to give my father strong grandchildren to keep our line intact for future generations. Your being so human could result in our children having more human traits than VampLycan. Aveoth was telling me how to avoid that to get my father to accept you and our future children into the clan.”

She let that sink in. “You want kids?”

“Don’t you?”

“Yes. Just not right away.”

“Fair enough. We have plenty of time.”

“Okay, Drantos. Let’s do this.”

He smiled at her again. “Now?”

“You’re on top of me and I’m so totally turned-on, I ache. I’ll hurt you if you try to leave me this way.”

“We can make love without cementing the bond. It’s not a one-shot deal, sweetheart. It can take days. I’d rather we start the process when we reach my cabin. I don’t want any interruptions once we start.”

“Cabin?” She made a face. “Oh, please tell me it’s got electricity and a computer with internet connection. Satellite or cable television would be a must too. Have I mentioned I’m a city girl? I suck at camping and roughing it.”

“I have all the modern-day amenities,” he chuckled. “Just because I love to roam the wilderness doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy all the comforts life has to offer. I even have a Jacuzzi tub inside the bathroom in our master bedroom.”

“You’re perfect.”

“So are you.” He grinned. “I need to get you home soon. Wouldn’t you prefer us to be on a bed, rather than on the ground?”

Her legs lifted to hook across his ass. “No. I’m impatient. I guess I should warn you about that. Kiss me.”

His mouth lowered without hesitation and Dusti lifted her chin to meet him halfway. The instant his tongue swiped hers, the desire inside her changed from an ache into a raging inferno of need. She moaned and arched against his chest. She wished she were naked to feel him skin to skin. The material between their upper bodies nearly hurt. She whimpered.

He tore his mouth away, concern in his gaze. She released his face to frantically claw at the waist of the shirt she wore. He had to lift up slightly for her to be able to free it from between their bodies. She wiggled and squirmed but eventually tossed the shirt over her head. Her fingers gripped his shoulders to yank him down on top of her again, mouth going for his, and she ground her hips against his pelvis to urge him to enter her. The material of her bunched sarong didn’t bother her so much, since it was high on her hips between their lower bellies. The sensation of her breasts smashed against his hot chest was pure heaven.

“Slow down.”

She shook her head, gazing up into his eyes with desperation. “I want you so bad. I’ve never had much patience.”

“Taking my blood last night started the mating process already.” He looked a little stunned but then adjusted his hips. “It’s rough in the beginning. Passion can flare up suddenly.”

“I like rough sex. Just fuck me.”

He chuckled. “I mean the need for sex. It’s near uncontrollable for the first few days.”

“Don’t talk me to death.”

She used her hold around his waist to grind her hips, seeking him, and moaned when his hard cock nudged at the seam of her sex. He closed his eyes when she rubbed her pussy against him. A soft growl came from deep in his throat.

“Slow down or I’ll lose control, sweetheart. You’re too human. You don’t want that. If you think you’ve ever had rough sex before, you haven’t.”

“I don’t care! Just fuck me,” she demanded. She moved suggestively against the hard ridge of his shaft until she got him to slide across her clit. She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood and threw her head back from the intense pleasure. Her eyes closed. Raw ecstasy tore through her.

Drantos drove into her fast and deep. The sensation of his thick cock stretching her, filling her, made her cry out again. He froze, buried inside her, and snarled.

“Did I hurt you?”

She shook her head. “Felt good. Move, baby. Please? Will you do that bite thing on my neck? You have no idea what that feels like.”

He growled, buried his face against her neck, and bit down hard enough to send that wonderful jolt of electricity throughout her body. Her vaginal walls clenched around his cock and he snarled against her skin.

Maybe he does know
, she guessed, when he bit again while he started to move inside her.

Passion roared through her veins to a height she’d never been before. He’d mentioned his blood must have triggered the beginning of their mating process. If this was just the start, she doubted she’d survive when it hit full force. She bucked frantically against him, used her legs wrapped around his ass for leverage, and lifted her face to blindly find his skin. She bit
him
instead of her lip.

He snarled, his hips slamming into her harder and faster.

The slide of his cock against all those nerve endings inside her body seemed to amplify the fervor to come. Pleasure and pain blurred in her mind. She felt as if she’d die if she didn’t climax. It hovered just out of her reach but every time Drantos clamped down on her skin with his teeth, the electric jolt shooting through her from head to toe drew her closer to that goal.

Sweat slicked their bodies, helping them glide against each other smoother; her nails dug into him and she didn’t care if she drew blood. She doubted he would either, with the way he snarled, moaned, and growled against her skin. The sounds he made turned her on more. He wasn’t just a man but part animal at that moment. They both were. She acknowledged it with acceptance.

His mouth released her but his hips didn’t slow the rapid pace he’d set. “Bite harder,” Drantos demanded. He bit her again on her throat and pain registered. That bite didn’t jolt her but the pain faded quickly.

She bit him as hard as she could, tasted blood, and an overwhelming desire gripped her. She fastened her mouth on that spot and sucked, her tongue frantically lapping at his taste that filled her mouth. She realized he was taking her blood as well. His knees spread wider as he drove his cock into her a little deeper.