Saeed rounded the kitchen island in the space of a heartbeat. The moment his arms went around her she melted against him, as though her entire body had released a sigh of relief. His mouth claimed hers and Saeed swallowed an indulgent moan. His cock hardened to stone, pressing uncomfortably against his jeans. The hot lust that coursed through him was undeniable. Only his mate could evoke such a response. He refused to believe otherwise.
Her hands reached behind him. One gripped the fabric of his shirt at his shoulder blade while the other dove into his hair. Cerys pressed her body tight against his, grinding her hips into the hard length of his erection. The urgency of her actions spurred Saeed on. His tongue thrust past her lips to taste the honeyed sweetness of her mouth and in the process, one fang nicked delicate skin.
Dear gods! The taste of her blood had no equal. Unable to resist himself, he took her full bottom lip between his teeth and bit down harder, opening four tiny punctures. He kissed her deeply, his tongue dancing against hers as her blood drove him into a frenzy.
“Saeed.” Her voice was a breathy murmur against his mouth. He’d longed to hear her say his name, infused with passion. With longing. With want. Instead, he heard nothing but quiet desperation. Pain. Loneliness. Unfulfilled need. “Please.” The plea speared into his heart like a stake. “Don’t stop.”
He had no intention of stopping. Of giving up his quest to make her unequivocally his. Saeed reached for the hem of her shirt and broke their kiss only long enough to pull the garment over her head. The faintest luster painted her skin, so much like the glitter of starlight he beheld in her light eyes. For a moment, Saeed could do nothing but stare. The swell of her petite breasts peeking out from the cups of her bra begged for his touch. She arched her back and pressed against him once again as though to offer her permission.
He craved her like a drug. And he feared he would never find satiation.
Saeed reached up and with the pads of his fingers, traced the outline of one swell. Cerys shuddered and chills broke out over her skin as her breath expanded her chest in quick bursts. He continued his unhurried exploration, his eyes trained on hers. From one breast, to the valley between them and then to the other. Along her delicate collarbone and over one shoulder. Down the length of her biceps to her forearm until his fingertips skimmed her palms and along her fingers. From there, he found the thick waistband of her jeans and he ventured upward. The tight muscles in her torso twitched beneath his light touch. Her stomach clenched and the flesh there vibrated ever so slightly. His hands wrapped around her ribcage and slid upward to cup her breasts through the light fabric of her bra, bringing him back to his starting point. There was still more ground to cover, but Saeed was content to pace himself. Patience was vital lest he scare her away.
Convincing Cerys of their tether was a marathon, not a sprint.
Tears welled in Cerys’s eyes. Saeed paused, taken aback by her apparent distress. “You’re like a gourmet, five course meal,” she said with a rueful laugh. She swiped at her cheeks, brushing the tears away before they had a chance to even fall.
Her words were nonsensical, and yet they pierced his flesh like the sharpest of blades. It was too soon, too fast. “We should stop.”
“No.” She reached out and grabbed his hand, placing it to the left side of her chest. Her heart pounded. The wild rush beat against his fingertips and the sound of it echoed in his ears. “This is the most alive I’ve felt in centuries. I don’t want you to stop.”
Saeed had mourned the loss of his soul for mere months while Cerys had been without hers for hundreds of years. He was ashamed of his own selfishness, his own desperate urge to feel complete when she’d gone so long without. His hand wandered from her chest back to her breast. He brushed the pad of his thumb over the hardened point of her nipple and Cerys’s lids drooped. Tonight, he would make her feel. He would give her pleasure, and nothing else.
He put his mouth to hers once again. Saeed kissed her slowly. Methodically. Every slight movement, the angle of his mouth against hers, every flick of his tongue and nip of his teeth precisely placed. He wound his left hand in the length of her fiery red hair as he abandoned her mouth to kiss along her jaw line. His lips found the soft skin at her throat and though he yearned to pierce the flesh there to drink deeply from her vein, Saeed held himself in check. He denied himself the pleasure of her blood in order to focus all of his attention on her.
His right hand abandoned her breast. His fingertips wandered back down her torso to the waistband of her jeans. His fingers dipped inside and Cerys drew in a sharp breath as he ventured further across her abdomen and past the boundary of her underwear. He loosened the button and pulled down her zipper to allow his wandering hand access to the soft flesh of her sex. His fingers slid across the silken folds, hot, wet, and eager for his touch. Cerys let out a low indulgent moan that further hardened Saeed’s cock and caused it to throb painfully against his fly. He would find no relief tonight, but he’d be damned if Cerys went another minute without.
He found the tight knot of nerves at her core and lightly circled his fingertip over the surface. Cerys’s grip on him tightened as her body went rigid. She pressed her cheek against his, and her quick, hot breaths tickled the outer shell of his ear. Such fire. Such unabashed passion. Saeed wasn’t content to stand in the middle of the kitchen with his hand thrust down her pants. He wanted her bare, laid naked before him, so he could worship her the way she deserved.
She let out a frustrated cry as he pulled away. Saeed scooped her up in his arms and crossed to the living room in four wide steps. He deposited her into the overstuffed chair that he’d earlier settled himself into as he’d watched her. He bent over her and grabbed her boots to pull them off. The hollow thump of each one hitting the floor mingled with her racing breaths as he unhooked the clasp of her bra, whisking the garment away from her and depositing it somewhere beside the boots. He took a moment to admire the beauty of her breasts. Just full enough to mold to his palms, high and pert, with tiny pink beaded nipples that begged to be sucked. Pale and lustrous like pearls.
The dry fire of his thirst reignited and his fangs throbbed in his gums. He wanted to bite. To suck. To glut himself on her until he was so exhausted that he had no choice but to succumb to daytime sleep. Later. There would be time enough to satisfy his lusts. And he was anxious to taste more than just her blood.
Saeed went to his knees before her as though in worship. The intensity of her gaze as she watched him stole his breath and caused his pulse to race. He gripped the waistband of her pants and hooked his fingers into her underwear as he dragged them both down her thighs. She lifted her legs to help rid herself of the garments and a growl built in Saeed’s chest as he got a glimpse of the delicate, glistening flesh of her pussy.
Magnificent.
Her feet came back down to rest on the floor and Saeed reached between her thighs, gently urging them to part. Her mouth went slack as she let out a breath and her fingers gripped the armrests of the chair. He didn’t waste another second and buried his face between her legs. His tongue flicked out and Saeed’s eyes drifted shut. She was everything he’d hoped for and more.
* * *
Cerys had never been blinded by pleasure but she could safely say she definitely wouldn’t be passing an eye test anytime soon. Her head rolled back on her shoulders with the first pass of his tongue as her fingers dug into the plush upholstery of the chair. She’d meant every word she’d said to him. This moment should’ve been dreamlike, but instead it was as though she’d been woken from a dream. That this was her reality, and her life up until now had been the illusion.
Saeed’s mouth was cool on her heated flesh, adding a layer of sensation that took Cerys by surprise. She drew in a sharp breath and held it. Her muscles grew taut and she focused on nothing but the sensation of Saeed’s soft, wet tongue as it circled her clit.
“Oh gods Saeed, don’t stop.”
All thoughts of Rin and the consequences of missing her curfew faded to the back of her mind. Saeed offered her a momentary freedom from her captivity, and she greedily held onto every moment. For a space of time, she belonged to no one but herself. Her pleasure was her own and the only thing required of her was to accept what Saeed offered.
The physical bliss filled that hollowness in a way a double cheeseburger never could. In the past, sex had always been a fairly meaningless act. An itch to scratch and a want to satisfy, but always an empty encounter that was easy to dismiss to the back of her mind. Those experiences had been as hollow as the space in her chest where her soul should have rooted. But in Saeed’s kisses, his featherlike touches, the brand of his mouth, she felt the spark of a connection and she found it both exhilarating and frightening.
Her head came up and her gaze roamed down the length of her torso to settle on Saeed’s face. His eyes met hers for an intense moment, the dark irises rimmed with brilliant silver. His lids drifted shut as he sealed his mouth over her clit and sucked. The light scrape of his fangs sent a molten rush of heat through Cerys’s core and her thighs trembled on either side of his face. Oh, how she wanted him to bite her. To sink the razor sharp points of his fangs into the delicate flesh of her thigh. She welcomed the sting followed by the flash of heat that ignited her blood and softened her bones. He gave her so much pleasure, and all she could do was offer her blood in return.
“Saeed.” Her fingers dove into the soft waves of his hair and curled into a fist. A low growl gathered in his throat and vibrated against her pussy, causing a renewed rush of wetness to spread between her thighs. “I want you to bite me.” The words were little more than a heated murmur, frenzied and quick. “Do it. I want to feel it.”
The gentle rhythm of Saeed’s tongue paused. His eyes remained closed as he pulled an inch away as though in indecision. His breath raced, warm pants of breath that caressed Cerys’s already sensitive flesh. She didn’t release her grip on his hair, but instead angled his head to her inner thigh. She spread her legs wider in invitation, arching her back as she pressed against his mouth. “I know you want it,” she breathed. “Take it.”
His fingertips dug into her outer thighs as he released his hold and let out a shuddering breath. The pad of his thumb found her clit and brushed against the knot of nerves in an upward sweep at the exact moment his fangs pierced her skin. Without warning, the orgasm took her. She gasped in surprise as she threw her head back. Each deep pull of suction from Saeed’s mouth matched the deep pulsing contractions of her sex. Cerys cried out, desperate sobs that grew hoarse in her chest, as the most intense pleasure she’d ever experienced radiated through her. Time stood still. The past disappeared. The future was nothing more than an uncertain blur. All that remained was the present. This precious space of time where Cerys was nothing more than an inconsequential speck in a vast universe. Saeed continued to circle her clit as he fed. He brought her down slowly, his touch becoming lighter, slower, as did the draw of suction against her thigh. His fangs disengaged and his tongue flicked out at her skin. A deep, wracking shudder possessed her and chills broke out over Cerys’s skin and she let out a slow breath. She’d never felt anything so intense. Saeed was without a doubt one of a kind.
Cerys expected Saeed to pull away. He’d had her blood, had pleasured her. What was left to do but get naked and go to town? It’s what any other male would’ve done. Instead, Saeed remained where he was. He murmured heated words against her skin in a language she didn’t understand. His native tongue perhaps? The words were rhythmic and beautiful like a prayer, or song. His hands caressed up the outsides of her thighs and around to the insides as he dragged the blunt ends of his fingers down her over-sensitized flesh. He kissed all of the places he’d touched, branding her with each contact. He gripped her hips, laid his cheek to the inside of her thigh, and inhaled deeply as she continued to comb her fingers through the silky strands of his hair.
Such a magnificent male. If only they could belong to one another in the way Saeed believed they could. Cerys had abandoned those sorts of optimistic notions a long time ago. They were each condemned to their fates. Cerys would never belong to anyone but Rin.
Saeed’s hands continued their unhurried exploration of her body. Her eyes drifted shut as she allowed herself the indulgence of laying still and reveling in the sensation of his touch. He shifted against her, settling his body into the cradle of her thighs as his palms traveled up her torso against her ribs, over the petite mounds of her breasts, her collarbone, over her shoulders and down her arms to her fingertips.
With the still silence, Cerys’s stomach growled. She cringed, cursing her own stupid body for making its other needs known. She looked up to find Saeed watching her, a corner of his mouth hitched in a gentle smile. Amusement sparked his dark eyes that crinkled at the corners. She liked him like this. Clearheaded. Relaxed. His expression soft. She reached up and brushed her thumb along the strong line of his jaw.
One-of-a-kind.
“You’re hungry.”
Yeah, her stupid stomach had made it pretty obvious. Embarrassment heated her cheeks and she couldn’t help but return his gentle smile with a grimace. “I’m always hungry,” she replied. “My stomach just chose the wrong moment to be an obnoxious jerk.”
Saeed reached up to brush her hair away from her face. His gaze searched hers and Cerys’s breath stalled in her chest. “I interrupted your dinner. I apologize.”
Laughter bubbled in Cerys’s chest but she swallowed it down. She wasn’t used to such sincerity. Saeed had just managed to rock her mother-effing world, hadn’t asked for a damned thing in return, and he was apologizing? They might have to have a talk about what sorts of things warranted an “I’m sorry.”
Saeed’s eyes took on that faraway look that signaled his grip on lucidity might be slipping. A tiny knot of worry formed in Cerys’s chest, the sensation so uncomfortable and foreign, she rubbed at her sternum as though she could massage it away.
“I saw you.” His voice went low and deep, caressing every part of her. “You danced with bright silver swords for a Roman vampire and his entourage. So fierce. So beautiful. And so sad.”
Holy shit. Cerys drew in a surprised breath. Hundreds of thousands of memories to weed through. Several lifetimes worth of experiences so easily forgotten, and yet, Cerys knew the exact moment Saeed spoke of. It hadn’t been long after Rin had captured her soul and she’d retained some sense of what it was to feel. She’d danced like a puppet on a string, providing a show that was guaranteed to impress the arrogant coven master. Rin had instructed her to be beautiful and graceful, formidable and fierce. Through it all, she’d experienced despair so intense, it had threatened to bring her to her knees.
“Your eyes.” Saeed focused on nothing as he stared her. “Pale autumn. Starlight. Your skin.…” He reached out to her as though she were an apparition, the tips of his fingers ghosting over her bare shoulder. “Lustrous and fair. Your hair…” Silver flashed in his gaze as he captured a lock of her hair between his thumb and forefinger. “Just like fire.”
Tears pricked at Cerys’s eyes. His tender words would have gutted her had she been able to feel even a little more. His gaze remained unfocused as though he were back in that memory, reliving the moment alongside her. “Saeed.” She cupped either side of his face in her palms as she implored him. “Come back to me. There’s nothing for you in the past.”
“She’ll tether me.” Her words had no effect on him. “My soul is bound to hers.”
He’d had her blood. That should’ve been enough to keep his mind clear. Why had he slipped so easily away? A familiar sense of helplessness crept up her shoulders, the weight of which was almost too much to bear. She didn’t know how to help him. How to keep him from retreating to a place that no longer existed. She couldn’t give him hope when she had none.
Saeed lived in dreams. Cerys had stopped dreaming a long time ago.