Charlie couldn’t stand the thought of this stunningly beautiful man being destroyed. At some point in the last few hours, her allegiances had started to swing like the pointer on a compass. Where before she’d been focussed on finding the killer, now her thoughts went to protecting Ivan Sokolov from what The Directive might do to him.

This was crazy. She couldn’t go up against The Directive.

And if Ivan was guilty of the murder, it was her job to make sure he was punished as much as it was The Directive’s.

To her surprise, at the thought of him being killed, she found tears pricking the backs of her eyes. “No, I can’t let that happen. There has to be another way.”

The faintest hint of a smile touched the corner of his mouth and, shaking his head, he took a step towards her, closing the gap between them further. “There isn’t, Charlie, I’m sorry.”

She blinked furiously, trying to hold back the tears. She wasn’t a crier, and she certainly didn’t want to cry over a man she’d only just met. But the image of him trapped between a choice of eternal madness and misery, over death, strummed at her heart.

“Maybe the blood won’t be a match,” she said, taking another step closer.

“Maybe.” His voice was soft as he matched her step. “But then that only means I hurt someone else.”

She felt as though she was being drawn to him, an invisible thread that pulled her closer, and she was incapable of fighting. The sensation made her pulse race, her mouth running dry. For some reason, her mind couldn’t seem to fathom the idea of him hurting someone. Though she knew what he was, her brain was sending out completely the wrong signals.

“Maybe it was an accident.” Her voice was barely a whisper now, a breath upon the air. Anticipation fired every one of her senses, her heart swelling in her chest, her lungs tightening. Her nipples had crinkled into buds, and she was suddenly aware of the tingling at her core.

“Or maybe it was what was needed to bring us into each other’s lives.”

“Maybe ...” she managed, but now they were only inches apart, his body so close to hers, all she needed to do was lean forward slightly and she’d be able to press her breasts against his chest.

To her surprise, he reached out, past her face, and touched the knot of hair at the back of her neck. “May I?” he asked.

Unsure what to say, she nodded.

His voice became a low growl. “I’ve been wanting to do this since the very first moment I set eyes on you.”

His fingers hooked into the band holding her hair in its sensible bun, and he pulled it out, releasing her blonde tresses so they spilled down her back. Though normally straight, having her hair up all day had created a wave to the strands.

He ran his fingers through the length. “Fucking hell. You’re beautiful.”

She wasn’t used to compliments. “No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are. The most incredible woman I’ve ever seen.”

Her breath caught. She wasn’t sure she could stop this now even if she wanted to, which she didn’t. It was like he’d said; fate wanted them to be together. It was as though their bodies were pulled together by an invisible magnet, an attraction she’d fought since the first moment she’d seen him standing beside his car in the hotel carpark. She’d thought it was just a vampire thing, but now her heart was making her wonder if it was more than that. She’d only known him a matter of hours, so why did the thought of something terrible happening to him make it feel as though it was cracking in two? He was the bad guy, and she was the good guy. It wasn’t supposed to work like this.

Ivan leaned in, and his lips touched hers, gently at first, as though asking her through kiss alone if this was all right, and then when her eyes slipped shut, and she opened her mouth to him in response, his kiss grew firmer. She slipped her arms around his neck and she pressed herself fully to him, crushing her breasts to the solid muscle of his chest. She was still wearing the black shirt of her police uniform and the unflattering trousers that went with it, but she didn’t even care.

He groaned into her mouth, and the hard line of his erection pressed against her stomach. He wanted her. Did he want to bite her, too? He was a vampire, so wasn’t that kind of thing natural to him? So many thoughts flooded through her head. Would she let him? How would it feel? Was his cock as cold as the rest of his body? How would he feel pushing inside her?

Her thoughts turned her on as much as his kiss, and she found herself grinding on him. His hands went to the buttons of her shirt, and she didn’t even try to stop him. He pulled them open, exposing the black lace of her bra. With a sudden burst of speed that appeared to only be a blur of colour around her, she suddenly found herself missing a shirt and the clasps of the back of her bra were open. The items of clothing were whisked away from her, exposing her naked breasts, and then his hands were on her unsightly uniform trousers pushing them down her hips. Now in only her knickers, she stood before him, with him still fully dressed.

“Jesus Christ. You’re fucking spectacular.”

Her breasts were large and heavy, her hips curved out enough to be considered more than just child-bearing. But she knew her waist was small, and she was proud of the long legs that gave her height.

He leaned in, his jaw skirting hers. “I’m going to eat you now,” he murmured in her ear.

“What?” Her heartrate skyrocketed. Was he going to bite her?

He gave a small chuckle. “Not like that.”

“Oh.”

He dropped to his knees in front of her and slowly rolled her underwear down her thighs. She stepped out of them, and he threw the slip of material to one side.

Ivan reached up and cupped her breasts with his hands, weighing them. He pinched her nipples, rolling them between fingers and thumbs, making her gasp. And his face nuzzled between her thighs, so she stepped her feet apart.

Oh, so this was what he meant when he said he was going to eat her.

His hands left her breasts and moved around to her rear to cup each cheek of her bottom. He pulled her to his face. His cool breath gusted against her mound, then he darted his tongue between her folds and licked her. She squirmed as the wetness of his saliva mixed with the cream from her pussy.

“Oh God.” She laced her hands in his soft, thick hair, and her thighs trembled as his tongue delved deeper.

The muscles of her belly were taut, pleasure pulsing up from her pussy, making her nipples tighten. Had she ever experienced pleasure like this? She thought she might lose her mind with it, and he’d only just touched her. She whimpered as his tongue curled around her clit and then flicked fast a couple of times, before sliding back down her slit. She was utterly at his mercy. He could have done anything he wanted to her. Her body was his to own.

One of his hands left her bottom and pushed between her thighs, his fingers joining his tongue. He slipped his finger into her slick channel and then added a second, stretching her around him. His skin was cold against her hot wetness, and the combination of temperatures took her arousal to another level.

She pressed her palms onto his naked shoulders, her fingernails digging ellipses into his skin. This was madness. Utter madness. She didn’t do things like this. And she was having sex with a vampire!

Her breathing grew faster, the air leaving her mouth in little cries of ‘oh!’ Her eyes slipped shut to concentrate on her building orgasm, so all her focus went to where his fingers and tongue were pushing inside her. The trembling from her thighs spread to her belly, her core winding tighter and tighter.

“Oh God, Ivan.”

She gave little gasps, and he thrust deeper and harder until she finally broke the dam, and her orgasm pulsed through her in waves. She shuddered with its force, her toes curling, her mouth slack with pleasure.

Ivan gave her a minute to allow the final pulses of her orgasm to wash through her, and then he got to his feet.

“Bedroom,” he growled, and whisked her up into his arms.

Before she could even process what had happened, she found herself on her bed, with the vampire standing at the end of it.

He shed his clothes quickly, revealing a perfect, well-muscled chest with a line of abs and broad shoulders. A spatter of dark hairs ran from his navel to join the thatch from which a large, erect cock stood proudly to attention. The rest of his chest was completely smooth. He was an incredibly beautiful man, and she could barely believe this was happening now. Never in her wildest dreams would she have imagined when she’d woken up that morning that events would bring her to this moment.

“I hope I have enough time to take every inch of you,” he told her as he stared down at her. “Every single part.”

She lifted her hand to reach for him, and he complied by crawling onto the bed, shadowing her with his body. She slipped her palm between them, smoothing across hard abs until her hand bumped with his erection. She curled her fingers around his length, and he groaned. He was cold. Ice cold and rock hard. How was he going to feel when he pushed inside her?

She thought of something. “What about protection? Shouldn’t we ...?”

“Vampires don’t get diseases, Charlie,” he said. “We don’t get women pregnant, either, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

They kissed again—hungry, urgent kisses. His tongue pushed into her mouth, battling with hers. Charlie didn’t release his cock but continued to masturbate him, marvelling at the silky soft skin surrounding the iron rod. He was big, too—big enough that she couldn’t get her fingers all the way around his girth, and she wasn’t a small woman.

She was already wet from her orgasm and she lifted her feet to hook them around his back. They both knew where this was going; there was no need for any more talk. With her hand still around his dick, she guided him into position then lifted her hips to meet him. The head of his cock slipped between her folds, and he moved to thrust inside her, but she pulled back. She didn’t want to rush this. Still holding him, she used his cockhead to rub between her folds and then up over her clit. Her previous orgasm had left her sensitised, and the touch sent sparks racing through her. She moved him down again, allowing his head to push inside her entrance before edging him back out.

“Ah, fuck, Charlie. Such a tease.”

But there was pleasure in his voice, and they both knew that with his strength he could break free from her in an instant.

She repeated the process, allowing him a little deeper inside her each time. Just when she thought they both might go mad with lust, she released him and pushed her hips forward. He met her thrust and drove deep, and they both gasped with pleasure against each other’s mouths. Ivan’s hands knotted deep in her hair, and he stared into her eyes as they met each other, thrust for thrust.

She felt him so deep, his coldness to her heat, stretching her wide. It was unlike any sex she’d ever had before. She wrapped her thighs around his back, and their movements grew faster. Ivan’s hips jack-knifed against hers, and she couldn’t keep up. She had to surrender to the need growing inside her.

“Oh, fuck, Charlie. You’re so fucking beautiful.”

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” she managed to gasp before she orgasmed hard. Her body trembled as pulses of pleasure took over her every thought and feeling, leaving her sweating and shaking in its wake.

Ivan swelled inside her, followed by a sudden rush of cold as he met her orgasm with one of his own, coming inside her and filling her deep.