The Dark Vampire: Last True Vampire 3 (17 page)

His mouth slanted across hers as his tongue thrust into her mouth. She released a pleasured moan at the silky glide and wound her fists into the fabric of his shirt, pulling him closer. Jenner gripped her hip in one strong hand and jerked her against him. The hard length of his erection brushed against her sex and Bria sighed into Jenner’s mouth as delicious pressure built inside of her.

Jenner had brought her here tonight to teach her focus. To show her that danger was ever present no matter her strength. To make sure that she knew the scope of what she was capable of as well as her limitations. None of that mattered when his mouth claimed hers. When she was in his arms the world melted away. Sensations and sounds,
scents, dissolved until there was only him. His taste on her lips. The rich, musky scent of his arousal. The grip of his large hand on her hip and his fist in her hair. He drew her focus like no other thing in this world could. As for the danger . . . Bria realized as she further lost herself to his kisses that the most dangerous thing in this world was the male in her arms and the way he made her feel.

She broke away and searched his face. His gaze was unfocused. Feral. His nostrils flared and his chest rose and fell with his heavy breaths. “Jenner.” Her own composure crumbled to dust. “Bite me again. Please.”

His lips pulled back to reveal his fangs and Jenner struck.

The force of his attack nearly laid her out on the bar. He released Bria’s hair only to cup her ass in his palms. With a thrust of his hips he jerked her to the edge of the bar, and Bria groaned as his erection ground against her sex at the same moment his fangs broke her skin. Pleasure crested within her and Bria’s body took over. She met every thrust of his hips and a shock of sensation pulsed from her clitoris as he ground his erection against her.

“Don’t stop,” she gasped. “Oh, gods, don’t stop!”

Their glasses rattled on the bar top with every powerful roll of Jenner’s hips, and Bria’s head fell back as he drank from her. They’d drawn the attention of many of the clubbers, and curious eyes watched with heated expressions. Gods help her, she didn’t care. Didn’t feel an ounce of embarrassment or shame. She let her eyes drift shut and blocked out everything around her until there was nothing left but her body and his. The powerful suction of his mouth on her throat and the deep thrust of his hips that awakened every nerve ending in her body.

Need built within her. Jenner’s fingers dove beneath her blouse and the flat of his palm ventured up her torso. Bria’s stomach muscles twitched as intense sensation fired along
her sensitive flesh. Jenner cupped her breast through her bra before jerking the fabric aside. He touched her not roughly, but with an edge of possession that caused Bria’s breath to race. With a gentle flick his thumb brushed over her taut nipple, and a rush of sensation raced through her to settle between her thighs.

“Do that again.”

Another sharp thrust of his hips accompanied the strong suction of his mouth. He plucked at her nipple and the sensitive tip tightened further under his ministrations to the point that Bria didn’t think she could take another moment of the intense pleasure he gave her.

“Oh!”

Her world broke apart into a mass of infinite stars before her. Her muscles contracted as wave after wave of sensation stole over her. Bria cried out and Jenner released his hold on her throat only to seal his mouth over hers. He swallowed down her sobs as the pulses ebbed and faded away into a pleasant glow that left Bria flushed and without breath. He’d given her an orgasm in the view of anyone who cared to watch. For the first time in her life Bria felt recklessly alive.

Gods, the way he made her
feel
.

“Jenner . . .,” she whispered against his mouth.

Bria wasn’t so naïve that she didn’t know her own body. She’d pleasured herself, knew how to bring herself to orgasm. There had been stolen moments in her uncle’s coven when she was young. Males who kissed her and whispered pretty words in her ear when they thought no one was looking. Bria had spent decades
yearning
. She’d existed on hope and fantasy for so long that she’d despaired of ever knowing true passion. None of her fantasies could compare to this moment, though. As innocent as it had been, Jenner brought her to new heights. And Bria wanted him to take her higher still.

Jenner’s body trembled against her as though he was barely able to restrain himself. He backed away with a start and scrubbed the back of his hand over his mouth. “Gods, Bria.” He sounded appalled. As though he couldn’t believe what had just happened. “I . . . Jesus fucking Christ.” Regret and fear shone in his silver-rimmed eyes. “The bathroom is over there. Go.”

“And do what?” Her anger mounted. That he’d treat what had just happened as something awful left her soaring heart in tattered shreds. “I don’t need to go.”

“
I
need you to go,” he said on a desperate growl. “I need a minute. To get my shit straight. And I don’t want to leave you here in the open, unprotected while I do it.”

“I don’t need your protection!” Bria felt eyes on them once again. She could only imagine what this must’ve looked like.

“You don’t know what you need,” Jenner countered. He no longer looked dazed, his expression clouded with lust. The male was absolutely
furious
. “Go.”

Without a word Bria rushed past him, through the press of bodies toward the restrooms at the far end of the club. How could he treat her so callously? She’d seen the lust in his gaze, felt his need reach out through their tether. Had he brought her here simply to humiliate her?

Bria burst through the bathroom door, thankful to find it empty. She turned on the faucet and took several cleansing breaths before she splashed the cold water on her face. It cooled the heat of embarrassment that colored her cheeks, but it wasn’t enough to quench the hurt that burned in her chest or cool her rising temper.

Eric Jenner wasn’t the male she’d thought he was. Even more disconcerting was the sense that this male she’d known for such a short time had already managed to break her heart.

Jenner’s
breath heaved in his chest as he turned his back on the mass of bodies on the dance floor. His elbows came down on the bar while he cradled his skull in his palms. Gods, he’d fucked up. Big-time. He’d hoped that being tethered would help him to finally get a grip on his control. That he wouldn’t be mastered by his fucking lusts anymore. What he’d learned tonight with Bria was that he was more out of control than he’d ever been.

Even now his want of her threatened to consume him.

Bria said she didn’t need protection, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Thomas Fairchild hoped that Jenner could be that male. No one—except perhaps Mikhail and Ronan—stopped to think that perhaps Bria needed someone to protect her from
him
. How could he have treated her so carelessly?

His own tortured memories swamped him and Jenner gave a rough shake of his head in an effort to dislodge them. He could have drained Bria if he hadn’t regained his damned senses. His bloodlust had raged as he buried his fangs in her throat. Her blood, so sweet on his tongue,
was a nectar he couldn’t get enough of. With each swallow he’d lost himself to the point that he wasn’t sure what was memory and what was reality. A vision of Bria, limp and lifeless in his arms as Ronja had been, flashed in Jenner’s mind and he shuddered. He could easily kill Bria and there was no one save his own fool self to keep his lusts in check.

Gods.
He was a fucking train wreck and everything he touched turned to shit. It would be better for Bria if he sent her back to her uncle. Even as the thought took form Jenner banished it from his mind. Mere days in her company and he knew he’d never be strong enough to let her go.

His soul belonged to her.

“She’s not enough to satisfy you.” Jenner cursed under his breath and turned. Marissa stood so close he could smell the cheap tequila on her breath.
Gods-damn it
. This was all he needed. She traced a finger down between his pecs and he bristled. “Let’s go back to my place. I can give you what you need.”

He looked pointedly at her hand that had come to rest on his stomach. Marissa’s expression fell and she took a tentative step back. “Your girl can join us if you want. You know I don’t mind sharing.”

“Not tonight, Marissa.”
Not any night. Not ever fucking again.

“Your thirst hasn’t been quenched. It takes a lot of blood to sate you. Your eyes are still bright silver.”

She spoke about him as if she truly knew him. Marissa knew fuck all about his thirst. As for his eyes, they flashed silver with lust for his
mate
and agitation for the female standing before him. “Go find someone else to warm your bed tonight. Because it isn’t going to be me.”

Above Marissa’s head Jenner scanned the crowd for any sign of Bria. She’d been in the bathroom for longer
than he’d expected and he cursed his own foolish anger for sending her away. Anxiety pooled in his gut. Acid burned its way up his throat. Marissa continued to talk about the gods knew what. Jenner could think of nothing but pushing through the mass of bodies.
Where in the hell is she?

As one of the soulless he hadn’t been bothered by emotions. Now he experienced the fallout for his apathy in the female who glared at him with open hatred and in his own gods-damned worry for Bria.

“You’re a selfish son of a bitch, Jenner! That whore you brought here tonight will
never
be as good for you as I am,” she spat.

The sting of her palm cracking against his face caused Jenner’s anger to surface. He deserved every bit of her disdain, though. And she was an admirable female for standing her ground. Bria, however, did not deserve it. His anger crested with a feral snarl and he clamped his jaw shut, lest he bare his fangs. He was a predator after all. An animal. And when cornered he behaved as any animal would.

“Speak of her that way again,” he snarled, “and I’ll make sure you’re banished from the city. Your own coven won’t even give you shelter.”

“You’ll come back to me. When you’re mad with thirst and your cock is aching you’ll
beg
me to take you to my bed!” Fear glistened in Marissa’s eyes and she turned on a heel, stumbling as she pushed her way through the throng of bodies on the dance floor.

Jesus.
What else could he fuck up tonight?

Jenner whipped around, his gaze scanning the crowd. He sensed Bria’s distress long before his eyes found her. A constriction of his chest and a sharp twist of his gut that left him shaking. His fangs throbbed in his gums and rage scorched a path up this throat. He plowed through the
people crowding the dance floor, his arm sweeping out like a scythe as he pushed bodies aside. Her fear stole his breath. All thoughts of his own unquenchable thirst evaporated under the rage that clouded Jenner’s vision as he pressed on. Some sorry fucker was going to bleed tonight.

Had Jenner not felt her presence he wouldn’t have seen her. A big, burly son of a bitch had Bria pinned against the wall not far from the bathrooms. Jenner took the male’s scent into his lungs—a shifter if he had to guess—and ripped him away from Bria. He spun the male around and put
his
back to the wall with enough force to crack the brick.

The shifter’s dark beady eyes went wide and his scent soured with fear. A smug, feral smile stretched Jenner’s lips, revealing the tips of his fangs. “You put your hands on my
mate,
shifter. I’ve killed males for less.” Speaking the word aloud sent a jolt through Jenner’s system. Bria was his mate. His to protect. From anyone or anything that meant to do her harm. Even from his own gods-damned self. The male swallowed visibly and his gaze darted briefly to Bria. “Don’t look at her, you piece of shit!” Jenner rattled the male hard enough to shake his brain loose. “You so much as breathe in her scent again and I’ll tear out your throat. You get me?”

The male nodded emphatically, but that wasn’t enough for Jenner.

“Say it,” he growled close to the male’s ear.

“I-I get you.”

Jenner let him go and the male slumped against the wall. “Fucking vampire,” he muttered under his breath. “I didn’t want your frigid bitch anyway.”

Jenner brought his arm up and spun. His fist cracked as it made contact with the male’s jaw and he went down like a felled tree. Jenner reached down and jerked the fucker up by his collar, took a deep breath, and held the
shifter’s scent in his lungs once again, committing it to memory. “If I see you in this place again, I’ll kill you.” He released his hold and the shifter sprawled back to the floor.

Jenner’s breath sawed in and out of his chest with his rage. His hands shook and he clenched them into tight fists. The urge to commit violence burned through him. He wanted to open the shifter’s throat. To watch as his blood pooled on the floor and—

Gentle hands settled on his biceps and Jenner stilled in an instant. He turned to find Bria beside him, her expression full of concern. One hand ventured up to his shoulder, and with slow, circular motions she eased the tension from his muscles. The pad of her thumb feathered over the pulse point at his throat and Jenner shuddered. Her skin glided against his as soft as satin. Her presence was the calming warmth to his cold cruelty. Her touch a gentle balm on his abrasive violence. He didn’t deserve this female. Would only ruin her.

“Did he hurt you?” Jenner choked on the words as emotion welled hot and thick in his throat. He didn’t trust himself to touch her. Not while his grip on his control balanced on a razor’s edge. The slightest tremor vibrated through him from the tips of his fingers right down to his toes and Jenner bit down on the inside of his cheek until he tasted blood. Her fear turned him into a mindless animal. He’d do anything to assuage it.

“No,” she said on a shaky breath. “He thought I was the vampire queen. When I told him I wasn’t, he wanted to know who I was, how many dhampirs had been turned.” She removed her hands from Jenner’s body and the absence of her touch sliced an open wound in his soul. “He said he’d never fucked a vampire and offered to buy me breakfast afterward. When I told him he could go fuck
himself instead he got a little cranky. That’s when you showed up.”