Ewan was starved for Sasha. For her body, her soft skin, the taste of her, the tight wet heat that held him so perfectly. His want of her went beyond the need for temporary satisfaction and that scared the shit out of him. She’d been dead to the world for the past ten or so hours. He could have driven a stake through her heart. Ended her existence as he had countless other vampires in the course of his life. He could have made Gregor proud and given up the location of a vampire coven for their clan to ravage. He could have betrayed her. But he didn’t.
Instead, he’d watched over her. Protected her while she was weak.
He was at odds with himself. Had been since the moment he’d laid eyes on her dark, savage beauty. He didn’t know who he was anymore. His future, his very existence was uncertain and it scared the shit out of him. And it was that fear that drove him to find solace in Sasha’s arms. He wanted to forget the things that plagued him—for a little while at least. Outside of these walls, the world faded away. Inside this room with her, an alternate reality existed.
Her scent drove him wild. The urgent longing in her sultry voice hardened his cock to stone. He bit down, harder like she wanted, and she let out a quiet moan. “Do you like that, Sasha?” He couldn’t help but ask for confirmation. His ego demanded it.
“Gods, yes.” The words left her lips in a breathy rush. “I love it.”
“Does it make you wet?” He bit her again, harder.
She sucked in a sharp breath. “Yes.”
His chest puffed with smug pride. He wanted her as mindless with passion as he was. As desperate for escape, for pleasure, for abandon. The hours she’d slept had crept by like days. Ewan couldn’t believe it was impossible to miss someone who was in the same room, but he’d counted the minutes until sundown when she’d wake.
“Get naked.”
Too many clothes separated them. He wanted bare skin and he wanted it now.
Sasha scooted off his lap and climbed off the bed. Gods, her beauty stole his breath. Her dark hair was tousled from sleep and a blush of passion painted her cheeks. Silver rimmed her irises, lending a wildness to her otherwise serene countenance. She reached around her back and slowly unhooked her bra. Her gaze held his as she dragged the straps down her arms. Slowly. She brought her arms in front of her and it pressed the enticing swell of her breasts over the cups for a torturous moment before she discarded the garment to the floor. Ewan’s gaze was drawn to the soft, pale roundness of her breasts and the delicate pink pearls of her nipples. She toed off her socks and her pants went next. Clad in nothing but a pair of lacy white underwear, she paused as she fiddled with the waistband.
A sweet, guileless smile curved her dark pink lips. “These, too?”
He’d never seen this playful, teasing side of her. Ewan himself had never been a lighthearted male and he found he didn’t quite know how to react. His world was made of hard edges and cold, focused, strategic thought. Strength and force. He didn’t know softness. Playfulness. Only since he’d met Sasha had he experienced the sensation of tension melting from his body. She fiddled with the lacy waistband, urging the fabric over her hip, giving him a teasing glimpse of the junction where her hip met her thigh. She eased the fabric back into place and waited, her expectant gaze holding his.
Ewan swallowed against the lump in his throat. “Those, too. Now.”
Sasha’s expression heated and her lips parted on a breath. She reached for her underwear and stripped the garment from her thighs and stepped out of the legs. Ewan’s stomach clenched as she drew her bottom lip between her teeth. One sharp fang nicked the skin and she licked the blood away. Gods, he’d never known something so simple could be so erotic. “I have a lot less clothes on than you do now.”
“True.” And he was going to take care of that right fucking now.
“Think you might want to join me in the no-clothes movement?”
Again, she teased him and Ewan had no idea how to react. There wasn’t a playful bone in his body. He climbed off the bed to the opposite side and quickly stripped. For a quiet moment, they stared at one another, the bed separating them. Ewan was a fighter. A soldier. His world was about giving and following orders. Though he had to admit he’d never been much of a willing follower, as evidenced by his recent rebellious streak. He was more comfortable leading. He wanted to command. And he expected to be obeyed.
“Get on the bed.”
Sasha’s gaze smoldered. A corner of her mouth curved upward and without a word, she did as he asked, laying herself out on the mattress. Ewan’s cock throbbed as the memory of Sasha bound and tied to the bed at the sex club invaded his thoughts. Gods, she’d driven him wild that night. And how he’d loved her submissiveness. She understood his need to be in charge and didn’t fight it.
She raised her arms above her and gripped the slats on the headboard as if she’d read this thoughts and wanted to return to that night as well. She shifted, her thighs rubbing together and Ewan’s attention wandered to the slick, glistening flesh of her pussy.
“Spread your legs.”
Her knees fell open.
“Wider.”
Again, she complied without a word of protest.
Ewan moved to the foot of the bed. The image of Sasha stretched out on the bed, his to do with what he wanted, burned itself into his memory. He climbed up onto the mattress and slid his hands beneath Sasha’s ass, cupping the round curves in his palms before pushing her upward toward his waiting mouth.
Her hips bucked and she cried out as his tongue slid against her sex. Soft, easy passes not meant to do anything other than stoke the fires of her passion. Ewan wanted a slow build. He wanted her writhing and begging. Mindless with need. He wanted to brand her with the pleasure he gave her so she would know without a doubt no other male would be able to give her what he did.
According to Sasha, her soul was already bound to his. But Ewan wanted more.
He continued his unhurried assault, careful to keep his pace slow and even. The pressure of his mouth against her just enough to guide her to the edge but not enough to push her over. Her panting breaths and tight moans spurred him on. The slats of the headboard creaked as she gripped them tighter. The muscles of her thighs twitched against his cheeks as he dipped his tongue inside of her to fully taste the honey sweetness.
He couldn’t get enough of her. She was incomparable. He knew that a relationship between them would be impossible. Too many obstacles stood in their way. But he also knew that he would set the world on fire before he’d ever let her go.
The sound of her heartbeat echoed in his ears, soft whooshing pulses that somehow calmed the inborn rage that always simmered beneath the surface of his skin. He’d never known the sort of peace that being with Sasha provided. She was shelter from a storm. Warmth on a cold night. Water to quench his thirst and sustenance to satisfy his hunger. His tongue swirled over her clit and she let out a whimper. He sealed his mouth over that same spot to suck gently and her whimper transformed to a decadent moan. He spread her wide with his fingertips to graze the tight bead with his teeth and a violent shudder wracked her body. She balanced on the razor’s edge and he could give her what she needed with nothing more than a little push.
He wanted it. Wanted his senses to be awash with her pleasure. Wanted her to come against his mouth, to bathe his tongue in her sweetness. It didn’t matter whether or not she could wait any longer. Ewan couldn’t.
He laid the flat of his tongue to her clit and reached up with his right hand to cup the roundness of one breast. His fingers plucked at the pearled nipple at the exact moment he swirled his tongue over her pussy. Sasha’s body tensed as she drew in a sharp breath that she released as several shuddering sobs of pleasure.
Her pussy pulsed against his tongue and Ewan drew out her pleasure until she could take no more. He kissed her swollen lips, drew them into his mouth, ran his tongue along the insides of her thighs, up and around one hip to her stomach, along her torso to one breast. Up and over the swell to her nipple that he took into his mouth and gently sucked. Then to her chest, collarbone, jawline, the corner of her mouth, and finally her lips that he seized with a greedy hunger that she answered with equal enthusiasm.
“I need you inside of me, Ewan.” The words left her lips between pants of breath. “Now. Please. I can’t wait.”
She squirmed beneath his weight. Her hips rolled up to meet his. He understood that desperation all too well. It burned within him like hellfire. Inextinguishable and unnaturally hot. He settled himself between her thighs and drove home, bathing his cock in her wet heat. A shiver of pleasure danced over his skin and Ewan let out a groan as he adjusted to the tight hold on his shaft.
He could never, ever, let her go. And his selfish want of her was bound to destroy them both.
* * *
Just when Sasha didn’t think the sex could get better between them, Ewan went out of his way to prove her wrong. How could each night spent in his arms be more intense, more pleasurable, more … everything? He constantly surprised her. Never acted in the way she anticipated. That unpredictability sent a rush of excitement through her veins. Kept her on her toes. She got off on that spontaneity.
There wasn’t a male on the face of the earth who could compare to Ewan.
She might have wanted to keep a stoic emotional distance from him, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t have a purely physical relationship, right?
She’d be sure to file that under, Lies I Tell Myself. She’d deal with her emotion baggage later. Right now, all she wanted was to feel. To enjoy this moment with Ewan. And to share in the pleasure that only seemed to increase in intensity every time their bodies came together.
Sasha loved the weight of Ewan’s body on hers. He braced the bulk of it on an elbow and slid his free hand under her ass as he thrust home. Her back arched off the mattress and her blood quickened at the deep groan that rumbled in his chest. He filled her completely. Beyond a simple physical satiation. She felt full on a soul-deep level, the tether that connected them making its presence known. No matter what Sasha did or didn’t want to happen between them, there would always be that spiritual connection. It couldn’t be severed. Ever.
“Harder, Ewan.” She needed him to make her forget the things that plagued her mind. “Deeper.” It seemed those two words were always on her lips when their bodies joined. She couldn’t get enough of him. Always needed just a little bit more than either one of them was capable of giving. He pulled out and thrust again, doing as she asked, and Sasha’s head rolled back on the pillow as she let out a contented moan. Yes. This was what she needed. To be fucked without mercy until she was too gods-damned exhausted to think about anything other than how good she felt.
“Tell me you want me, Sasha.” The deep rumble of Ewan’s voice coaxed chills to the surface of her skin. He pulled out and thrust home again. “Tell me you need me.”
She wanted to say the words. But saying them out loud would only turn the emotions she repressed into something tangible and real. “I do.” It was as much of an admission as she could force herself to make. Her hips rolled up to meet his as her back arched off the mattress. Not long ago, all she’d wanted was for Ewan to open up to her. Now, all she wanted was for things to go back to the way they’d been. Cold. Emotionless. Purely physical.
“Look at me.”
She’d closed her eyes without even realizing it. Ewan’s demand that she look at him heated her blood as much as it scared her. She feared the intimacy she’d once welcomed. Shied from his intensity. How could she admit to him that she wanted and needed him when doing so made her utterly powerless? Admitting it gave him ammunition against her. It transferred power.
Ewan must have sensed the shift in her focus. His pace slowed and the thrust of his hips became shallow and easy. “Sasha. Stop.”
His tone carried with it the barest hint of anger. Her eyes came slowly open to find his expression dark and serious. This was the male who had tethered her soul that night in the warehouse. The male who’d ordered her into the bathroom, bent her over, and taken her simply because he wanted to. Because he could. Without apology or reason.
“Come back to the moment.” Even now, he sought to ground her when all she wanted was to overanalyze her own thoughts and feelings to death. “Don’t think. Just feel.”
That was the problem though, wasn’t it? She felt too much. His demands on her pushed her to a place where her brain fought with her heart. “Distract me from my thoughts.” A temporary fix, true, but she’d take what she could get. “Until the only word I know, the only one I can speak, is your name.”
His gaze heated as he claimed her mouth in a ravenous kiss. The raw hunger, the base need, sparked Sasha’s own instinctual desire for completion. His tongue thrust past her lips to deepen the kiss at the exact moment he drove forward with his hips. This was what she needed from him. Heat. Passion. Urgency. With no words to disrupt or distract them. The thoughts that plagued her left her mind as though blown clear by a breeze. Ewan kissed her like he fucked her, with complete abandon.
Sasha gripped his shoulders. Her nails dug in to his flesh and he let out an approving growl. His pace increased as did the force of his thrusts that jarred Sasha with the impact and left her breathless and desperate for release.
Her legs fell open, wider. Ewan adjusted, breaking their kiss as he hooked his arms under her knees to bring her legs up to either side of him. “Gods.” His voice was a primal growl that vibrated over her skin. “You feel so good, Sasha. Come for me. I want to feel it.”
Sasha’s muscles grew tight. Her body seemed so small and insignificant in comparison to what she felt. Her throat burned with thirst and the urge to sink her fangs deep into Ewan’s flesh overwhelmed her. She arched up and buried her face against his throat. Her fangs broke the skin and his rich, sweet blood flowed over her tongue. The orgasm exploded through her and Sasha pulled away with a start. “Ewan!” His name burst from her lips, exactly as she’d wanted it, as wave after wave of intense sensation crashed over her. “Don’t stop!” There seemed to be no end to the pleasure as it only built with each one of his hard, unforgiving thrusts.
“Bite me again.” His tone carried all of the urgency that Sasha felt and more. “Do it now.”
She complied without argument and bit down at the junction of where his neck met his shoulder. He let out a low growl as his body went tense. His thrusts became wild, his cock swelled against her sensitive flesh, and Sasha was filled with delicious warmth. They rode out their pleasure as one, breaths mingling, bodies moving in tandem. Wild and intense, and then slower as the storm that swept them up began to ebb. Sasha closed the punctures in Ewan’s skin and ran the flat of her tongue along his neck to capture every last drop of blood she’d spilled. He let out a slow sigh as he settled against her, remaining deeply rooted inside of her.
“You are mine, Sasha.” His hot breath in her ear caused her to shudder. “Understand that I will not share you. I won’t hesitate to kill anyone who tries to take you from me.”
He’d never spoken such words to her before and never with such grim finality. He wanted her to understand, but she didn’t. She didn’t understand any of this, let alone her own opinions on the matter.
“Anyone?” The word was barely a whisper. Sasha could forget a lot of things, but who and what Ewan was wasn’t one of them. “Even Ian Gregor?”
His muscles tensed and a space of silence passed. If Gregor knew about Ewan’s relationship with Sasha, the berserker warlord would demand he turn her over to him. Either that, or he’d command Ewan to kill her himself.
“Anyone.” The word was heavy with anger and grated in his throat. Were his proclamations simply an attempt to claim ownership? Or something more?
“I understand.” She hoped he couldn’t smell the lie in her words. She’d never been more confused, her emotions so torn.
“Say it.”
She knew what he wanted, but gods, the words were harder to utter than she thought they would be. Not because of her own fierce need for independence, but because it forced her to admit what she already knew. She’d belonged to Ewan since the moment he’d tethered her soul.
“I’m yours,” she said through the thickness in her throat. The truth of it nearly choked her. “No one else’s.”
For the first time in a long time, Sasha was truly afraid. Not of Ewan, though, or even of Ian Gregor. No, the future was what frightened Sasha the most. Its uncertainty and her place in it. If she stayed with Ewan, allowed herself to truly become his, what would that make her? A traitor? Betrayer? With every passing day, she lost a little more of herself. How long would it be before she became completely unrecognizable, even to herself?