The Dark Vampire: Last True Vampire 3 (31 page)

Jenner brushed a thumb across her cheek as his own need built to a fevered pitch. He’d seen the look of bliss crest over his mate’s expression, but there was still more pleasure to give. As the last pulses of her pussy began to ebb, Jenner buried his fangs in her throat. Bria let out a
desperate sob and he thrust deep and hard, coaxing yet another orgasm from her. Jenner’s sac tightened as the wave of intense contractions gripped him, but he refused to find his own release until Bria was fully sated. Her blood coated his tongue and he greedily swallowed it down. A more heady nectar he’d never tasted. More. He wanted more, couldn’t get enough. The past and present mingled in Jenner’s mind and he continued to drink. He wouldn’t stop until he’d had his fill. Couldn’t stop even if he wanted to. Pleasure coursed through him. Bloodlust held him in its grip.
Monster.

“Jenner. Oh, gods.”

The sound of her voice broke the spell in an instant. He was not that impetuous male any longer. And one mistake of his past would not dictate his future. The words of a vampire long dead no longer held any sway over him. Jenner’s heart soared as a sense of freedom burst within him. His soul was tied to Bria’s. The tether was absolute. He needed nothing more to make him whole. As long as she was his, no harm would ever come to her.

Bria gripped him around the neck and struck. Her fangs broke through the skin and obliterated Jenner’s resolve. He came with such fervor that his fangs disengaged from her throat. His head snapped back on a roar as his cock pulsed and throbbed inside of her with the force of a wild summer storm. Intense sensation tingled from his balls and ran up his shaft to the tip of his cock. He pounded into Bria, any sense of self-control gone. He fucked her with punishing abandon, thrust after powerful thrust until he was utterly spent and nothing more than a boneless mass of muscle resting on top of her. Jenner had never known such satiation. Such a feeling of completeness. It rocked him to his fucking core and left him gasping for air and shaken.

Bria closed the punctures in his throat and pulled away. Blood trickled from the bites he’d left on her, beautiful ribbons of crimson against her porcelain skin. Jenner scored his tongue, laved her punctures to close them, and then licked the blood from her flesh, unwilling to waste even a drop. She let out a slow, sweet sigh and he pulled away to find her full lips curled at the corners, her eyes closed and expression soft.

“Jenner,” she said with wonder. “That was . . .”

“Amazing?” he suggested. Though “amazing” was a pale word for what he’d just experienced.

The word left her on an emphatic breath: “
Unreal.
”

A knot of emotion lodged in his chest.

“Bria.” There was so much he wanted to say to her. So much that he had no words to convey. But most of all, he needed to explain his actions at Ultra last night so that she knew once and for all that the only female in his life was
her
.

Her eyes fluttered open, shining amethyst gems. She reached up and brushed the pad of her thumb over his bottom lip. “Today is the first day of my existence,” she said dreamily. “Nothing that happened before tonight matters to me.”

Bria’s capacity for forgiveness, kindness, and understanding seemed limitless. A more selfless female Jenner had never known. Such a contrast to his own single-mindedness and selfishness. He gave a shallow thrust of his hips and she let out another blissful sigh. “Mmmm. I’ve never felt so good. Not ever.”

That he was her first only satisfied that selfishness in him. That he’d seen, touched, tasted Bria in a way that no other male had—or ever would—only strengthened the fierce possessiveness he felt for her. No other had heard her cries of passion, no other had taken the sweetness of
her blood on his tongue. She belonged to him
completely
. He coveted her with a ferocity that blazed through him like hellfire. No matter what he did, there would always be an aspect of his personality that had no control when it came to his mate. A trait he couldn’t switch off no matter how hard he tried. Jenner knew without a doubt that if any harm ever came to her he’d cut a bloody swath in his wake and he would
decimate
the creature responsible.

Jenner withdrew from her body and Bria reached for him as though to keep him with her. The absence of her heat punched through him, a loss that choked the air from his lungs. His want of her consumed him. Would he ever find balance?

“Don’t leave me,” she purred in a seductive tone that shivered down his spine.

Hours remained before sunrise, but Jenner had no intention of leaving this room in the meantime. “I’m not going anywhere and neither are you.” He rolled onto his side and gathered Bria’s body close to his. The skin-to-skin contact made him want to never leave the bed. “I plan to keep you naked and right where you are for the rest of the night.”

“You do?” Her expression was half naivety, half seduction. And 100 percent irresistible.

“I’ve only just started,
viaton
.” Jenner cupped her breast and Bria sighed. “I plan to fuck you until sunrise. I’m going to do such wicked things to you that you’ll beg me never to leave your side.”

Bria leaned up on one arm. She reached down between Jenner’s legs and stroked the length of his cock. It hardened in her palm. He couldn’t wait to take her again. “Maybe it’ll be me who makes
you
beg.”

“A battle of wills?”

Bria cocked a challenging brow, her mouth quirked in a half smile.

The female could unravel him with a look. She crawled down the length of his body, kissing, licking, and nipping as she settled herself between his legs. Her tongue flicked out at the head of his cock and Jenner hissed in a breath.
Dear gods
. If it was to be a battle of wills he was pretty damned sure he was about to lose this round.

“Fear
is a strange thing, isn’t it?” Bria spoke in hushed tones in the darkened bedroom. She lay in Jenner’s arms, her body completed sated, but her mind raced. Something had happened in the hours of their lovemaking that solidified their bond. The tether felt stronger than ever and it filled her with a sense of belonging and contentment the likes of which she’d never known.

“How so?” Jenner lowered his mouth to her temple.

“Our coven,” Bria began. “
My uncle’s
coven. He rules by fear.”

Jenner’s hold on her tightened. “He hurt you?”

“No,” Bria said with a sad laugh. “But if you instill enough fear in someone, you squash their curiosity. We were taught not to drink from the throat. Not to drink wantonly. To keep our bodies pure and untouched. We might as well have been a coven of priests. No one ever questions my uncle. No one disobeys. He uses covens like Siobhan’s as an example of the wild creatures we’d become if we gave ourselves over to our urges. He told us
that the Sortiari wars were lost because of the vampires’ mindless lusts.”

Jenner’s rumbling laughter vibrated over her skin. “It’s a wonder he let Mikhail turn you at all.”

“No one was more surprised than me.”

Jenner’s fingers combed idly through her hair. His breath brushed the outer shell of her ear and Bria shivered. “You weren’t afraid?”

“No.” It was the truth. Even when she thought she’d die Bria hadn’t been afraid. “When I realized that I’d been turned I was angry. I wanted him to let me go, and instead my uncle had thrown me into a new existence. At first I felt more trapped than ever, but then I recognized the transition for what it was: Freedom. I saw it as an opportunity to see the world through new eyes and disregard everything I’d ever been taught to fear. And then you came through the bedroom door that night. . . .”

Jenner sighed. “And I scared the hell out of you.”

“No.” Bria turned in his embrace to face him. She cupped his cheek in her palm. “You were the answer to all of my questions.”

He bent his head to hers and kissed her. Softly at first and then with more urgency. Time slipped through her fingers as they kissed. Their hands roamed; their touches explored. Bria sighed into Jenner’s mouth as his tongue slid against hers. When he finally pulled away she was out of breath and light-headed.

“My uncle let fear rule him. Now that I know the truth, I realize that he must have viewed my mother’s love for my father as something corrupt. A weakness. Maybe he sought to protect us from the sort of wild love that would prompt us to do reckless things.” Her voice lowered to a whisper: “Like promising the life of a newborn to a witch to save the life of a mate.”

“Bria.” His eyes searched her face as though he wished he could take her pain away.

Bria kissed him once and smoothed the crease from his brow. “You were right about me, Jenner. I was naïve. The world isn’t black and white. There are many shades of gray. We all do what we think is right at the time. She loved me,” Bria said through the tears that threatened. “She could have given me to the witch and she didn’t. My uncle loves me. I might not agree with the things he’s done, but for him, his choices were the right ones.”

“I’m going to kill the necromancer.” The harsh conviction of Jenner’s words chilled her. “When I find her, she’ll pay for every day of your life she’s taken away.”

“Jenner, I meant what I said earlier. My life began tonight. Nothing that happened before matters.”

“It matters to me,” Jenner said. He brushed the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip. “I’m going to make sure you never have reason to fear again.”

Such a male. Bria had never met anyone as honorable as Jenner. “I’ve acted like a selfish, spoiled child. I’m sorry.”

Jenner grinned. “And I’ve acted like a stubborn pain in the ass. If I could make it up to you, I would.”

“You taught me how to fight,” she remarked with a wry grin. “I’d say that’s atonement enough.”

“You’re a fierce fighter,
viaton
.” Jenner’s affectionate tone warmed her. “A natural warrior.”

“How would you know?” Bria teased.

“I’ve trained my fair share,” Jenner said. “You’re formidable, Bria.”

“You grew up in Finland?” Bria hoped to learn as much as she could about Jenner. He’d told her that
viaton
was a Finnish word. It must have been his native tongue. “How did you meet Mikhail?”

“Through Ronan,” Jenner said. “We were both mem
bers of Siobhan’s coven at one time or another and he’s the closest thing I’ve had to a brother. When Mikhail found Claire, Ronan suggested that I be turned after him. That’s when he brought me here.”

“So soon?” Bria said. “I would have thought you’d known him for ages.”

Ronan let out a chuff of breath. “The Collective,” he replied. “And the blood. It creates immediate bonds.”

Bria had never considered it, but Jenner was right. She’d felt an instant closeness to Claire and Mikhail, even to Ronan. The blood that turned them connected them all to one another and formed an undeniable kinship. They were Bria’s family now. Her coven. And Jenner was her
home
.

“It does,” she said after a moment. “I guess I didn’t notice it because the tether is so much stronger. It overrides everything else.”

“The strongest bond of all,” Jenner murmured. “Unbreakable.”

Jenner had never known intimacy like this. He took a female’s vein. He fucked her. He moved on. Even when he’d belonged to Siobhan’s coven he’d kept his distance from the others, too afraid of his own uncontrollable appetites. The only solid relationship he’d forged with his own kind had been with Ronan. Jenner hadn’t been all that interested in sharing his feelings, the details of his past, or any other sappy bullshit. Until now.

Bria made him want to share everything with her. Every thought, feeling, memory. Hell, even trivial shit that didn’t matter, like how he liked his steaks cooked or what his favorite TV show was. He wanted to know her inside and out and he wanted her to know him in the same way. It made him feel all too vulnerable. But with Bria, Jenner had found a safe haven.

Memories swamped him. Apart from the Collective, these painful memories belonged to Jenner alone. He idly stroked Bria’s hair, marveling at the fine, silky texture. “Before the Sortiari began to pick us off, dhampir covens answered to the vampire lord that ruled their region. In turn, each individual monarchy answered to a council of kings. Mikhail’s father was a high king. As was his grandfather. And now, Mikhail will become a high king as well. The highest since he’s the father of us all.”

“Eventually, you’ll be a king, too,” Bria remarked. “You’re part of Mikhail’s inner circle.”

Jenner snorted. “My family name brings with it a heavy burden of shame thanks to me. I’m far from worthy of that title. Besides, if I had it my way, there would be no monarchy. No class division. Already Mikhail resurrects an elitist system that will do nothing but cause dissention.”

“I’m sure he has the best intentions,” Bria said. “Order is important.”

“It is,” Jenner agreed. “But there can be order without division.”

“What was your coven before you came to Siobhan?” Bria asked.

Emotion clogged Jenner’s throat and he spoke through the thickness: “I had no coven.” The words bounced around his chest, hollow.

Bria’s brow furrowed. “How is that possible?”

She was so accepting, she couldn’t fathom anyone not belonging. “You see the good in everyone,
viaton
. Someone who’s done the things
I’ve done isn’t worthy of your acceptance.”

“How can you say that? Jenner”—the soft emotion in her voice gutted him—“I know your soul and it is
good
.”

“I’ve killed.” He blurted the words. Ripped the Band-Aid from his past and laid himself bare to her with two little words. “I’ve killed wantonly and without control. I’ve kept myself from you for your own protection. My control, it . . . I’m volatile, Bria. I wouldn’t survive it if I hurt you. I shamed my family, myself, and I will bear the marks of that shame for eternity. I couldn’t bear to shame you—or worse—as well.”

Bria’s questioning gaze met his. She reached out and Jenner flinched as the soft pads of her fingertips traced the jet-black pattern that marked his torso. Her gentleness was almost more than he could bear.