A rumbling growl echoed through the cabin as Ashton sank his teeth into Isabella’s neck. He held her tight, pumping her up and down on his hungry cock. They sucked and licked each other’s blood as they fucked hard and fast.

He knew what was coming. He knew what he was doing, but he didn’t care. His lion had taken over. His claws descended, gripping her flesh and drawing blood as he rammed himself inside her soft, wet pussy.

She moaned and sucked his neck, lapping up his blood with relish. Ashton let her take his blood as she took his. They were playing with fire, but both of them seemed to want to be burned.

He let the mating juices come down inside him as he held her neck in his teeth. His orgasm exploded deep in her tight cunt; with it, his mating seed pumped into her womb.

They held each other tight, arms, and teeth wrapped around each other’s flesh. Slowly, they let each other go. Senses returning, Ashton had to accept what he’d just done. He’d mated her. A vampire. He didn’t regret it. He wanted the curvy little woman to be his and his alone. He would deal with the consequences, no matter what they might be.

Isabella slowly stood up and pulled her clothes back on, licking her lips. She picked up her glass and threw back a shot of rum.

“Holy hell,” she said, sitting across from him. Ashton pulled his own clothes on and nodded at her. “That was amazing,” she said.

“Yes, it was. Do you know what just happened?” he asked her.

She looked away and out the window at the growing darkness. The moon shown bright above them in a sliver globe between the trees. She looked back at him, her expression a strange mix of giddiness and anxiety. “We’re mated,” she said, pouring them both another shot of rum. She lifted her glass to him. He lifted his, and they clanged them together before downing the liquid inside. It burned going down, but it helped numb the growing awareness that what they’d done would get them both into a lot of trouble.

“Let’s get some sleep, mate,” he said, taking her hand. He guided her to the bed, and they got under the covers. They snuggled together as the firelight flickered. Soon they were both passed out asleep.

 

The blankets were thrown off them in the darkness, and an angry scream filled the cabin. “What have you done?” the angry voice yelled. Ashton heard a loud slap. As his eye adjusted to the darkness, he saw Domingo holding Isabella by the shirt, ready to her strike again. He grabbed the vampire’s hand and threw him backward.

“Don’t you dare,” he roared. Domingo backhanded Ashton, sending him reeling onto the bed.

“You mated our female, you disguising animal. I should kill you now.”

“Bring them both,” a voice said from the cabin door.

“Father, just leave me alone. I’m mated to the lion. I’m no use to you now.” Her voice was panicked.

“You’ve broken my law, Isabella. You’ve defied me. You and your lover will pay the price for your insolence.”

“No!” she yelled as the stronger vampires hauled them out of the cabin and shoved them on the back of ATVs. Santiago punched Ashton in the face repeatedly, the pain sharp and overpowering until Ashton finally passed out.

When he came to they were lumbering through the forest. Ashton had his hands tied behind his back and was slumped over the back of an ATV. He could make out Isabella’s scent. She was close.

He strained against the restraints, but it did no good. When they made it out of the woods, he and Isabella were dumped into the back of an SUV. The car drove fast through the night while Ashton lapsed in and out of consciousness.

Finally, they arrived at the mansion. His head throbbing, Ashton tried to sit up and look around, but he was forcefully pulled from the SUV and pushed through the house and into the basement.

Isabella was still unconscious. They deposited her on a metal-framed bed and tied him up to the wall. They were both cuffed to long chains bolted into heavy bricks. When the vampires left the room, Ashton tried to get to Isabella, but the chains only let him move so far.

He could tell she was still breathing, but she had a welt on her blackening eye. He growled. He would kill these men, just as soon as he figured out how. “Isabella?” he whispered, trying to get her to wake up and give him an indication that she was all right. “Please, Isabella. Wake up.”

She grumbled from the bed before she sat up slowly, groaning. “Oh my god, my head hurts,” she moaned.

“They beat you pretty badly,” Ashton said.

“I’m sorry you got in the middle of this, Ashton. You don’t deserve it,” she said.

“What are you talking about. You are my mate now. I love you. Whatever happens to you happens to me.”

She looked over at him, light in her eyes, her expression questioning. “You love me?” she asked. She looked confused, as if no one had ever said those words to her before.

“Of course I do. I love your spunk and your vigor. I love everything about you. You are my mate.”

“Ashton,” she whispered.