Desecrated Beauty (Twisted Fairy Tales #1) (12 page)

“Aroused? You’ll be able to know when I’m aroused.” Nero smirked and something sunk low in her belly and she groaned. “I can’t live with that.”

“I assure you I will not take advantage of you.”

“Says the guy who has, on several occasions already, used compulsion on me to get answers I was not willing to give.”

“I am deeply sorry about that, and I can assure you that I will not take advantage of you again.”

“Okay, well, regardless… I don’t trust you.”

“I thought that’s why you’re letting me drink from you.”

“No, I was doing that because you wanted to trust me.”

“It requires trust from a woman such as yourself to allow a creature like me to take your life force.” Her frown deepened slightly and she shook her head. He was reading way too much into this but before she could answer him he continued, “I do look forward to being able to read you better.”

“Wait. WAIT. You’re going to be able to read my mind?”

He laughed at her, “no, of course not. But I’ll be able to read your emotions. It’ll make it easier for me to understand you.”

“Will I be able to read your emotions?”

“I suppose so, but to be honest I have no idea how the connection will affect you. Like I said - I’ve never had a mate and I’ve also not been human for a very long time. So I don’t know what the human side of this will be like.”

“Peachy,” she said dryly before swallowing hard, casting her eyes up toward the ceiling. She felt like she had very little choice in this anymore. This was supposed to be her calling the shots, but once more he had blindsided her and took back control.

She turned to look back at Nero, starting as she watched him tear savagely into his own wrist. There was nothing gentle about how he did it, the fangs sinking into the flesh like warm butter and literally tearing the veins open. Blood gushed over the skin of his hand and flowed down between them onto the shower floor. She watched in horror at the growing puddle at their feet until suddenly Nero reached out and turned her, pushing her hard against the wall.

“
Hey!
”
she shouted as she felt him bring his hand up to her back and brush against her scars slowly. She shivered as he kept touching her, drawing his fingers along each old faded wound like he was a painter.

Nero concentrated as he worked, watching as each scar disappeared one by one. There was one that was worse than the others that hung on her back as a reminder of her past. He didn’t want to erase it completely, there was no lesson in that and he wanted her to understand what it truly was that her father had taught her.

He was careful to avoid it as he worked and pulled away, licking his wrist clean and watching the wound disappear like her scars did.

“
Alright, they’re gone.
”

“
All of them?
”
she asked dubiously.

“
No, not all of them. I don’t think it’s worth it to remove them all,
”
he said with a frown as she turned to face him, careful to keep one arm crossed over her chest again. He saw no point in her being bashful. He’d already had an eyeful that would be burned into his memory from here on out.

“
That’s half of my promise done,
”
he said as he brought his wrist back up to his mouth and punctured the flesh once more. She reached out and grabbed his hand, pushing it down and away from her for a moment as she shook her head.

“
Wait,” she said uncertainly, still undecided over whether she could go through with this. Did she want to be the mate of a vampire? To belong to him? She didn’t know and he seemed to carefully avoid what that would truly entail. Safety from other vampires, sex with no other person - but what of him? Was she supposed to give her body over to him now?

“
Do you want to see your sister or not?
”
The question stung and she looked down at the floor. Rose had suffered worse than she had for the choices she had made. Rose had never told her what had happened after she had left, but she could guess what leaving meant to their family.

“
Yes, I do,” she said firmly, bringing his wrist up to her mouth without the hesitation of the first time.

The old blood was fast drying on his skin, tasting starchy and metallic. She winced as she bit down into his flesh, feeling her teeth break through and a cold gush of blood follow. She choked on it at first, ungracefully spluttering blood all down her chin and chest. Her gag reflexes kicked in, unable to stand the taste of something so unusual. Her throat constricted and every part of her wanted to reject what he was offering her. Sensing the growing hesitation in her body Nero brought his hand quickly up to the back of her head. He pressed her mouth tight against the wound, forcing her to keep swallowing if only not to choke on his blood. But if she did - and then died - would she come back as a vampire?

The thought sent her into a panic and she grabbed his arm trying to force it away from her mouth again, feeling the fear crawling through her belly and tearing her insides into strips. He finally relented, freeing her from his hold as she stumbled back letting her body hit the tiled wall behind her as she gasped for air.

“What is the matter?” His voice was stern as he looked down at her.

“I just…” she said weakly, shaking her head. She needed time to compose herself before she replied to him, she couldn’t let him know what she was thinking or did he already? She really didn’t understand how this mating thing worked.

“I thought I might choke and die on your blood, but because I’ve already ingested some I would come back to life… like you.” She looked up at, her eyes wide with the panic that had gripped her before looking down at her feet again and taking a deep breath. She hated feeling vulnerable in front of him like this. But most importantly she hated not having all the answers like he seemingly did.

“The process is a little more complicated than that, but you would be temporarily held in a state between beings until I decided to claim you.”

“And would you have?” She looked up, her voice quiet as she spoke. There was an underlying fear in her question. A part of her was repulsed by the idea and yet the rest of her longed to know he would have her. She needed to know he would keep her even if she weren’t the feisty human woman he claimed he was so intrigued by. When had she decided that his opinion of her was that important? When had she decided at all to allow a man to determine her fate?

Nero looked back at her unflinchingly as he moved closer to her, reaching out and tracing her lips gently before bringing his hand up along her jaw toward her ear. His fingers toyed with the hair tucked behind her ear before he shook his head at her.

“I would have to, I’m afraid to admit.”

She stared back at him in surprise, unsure of what she was supposed to say. She was far too distracted by his lingering fingers and how they gently caressed her skin, moving along it and forcing it to blossom into gooseflesh.

Bringing herself back to the moment she swallowed hard, forcing some kind of sound from her lungs, “why?”

“Because you have enraptured me in the most illogical way. Never before has a human woman been able to hold my attention for so long. Something about you calls to me like a familiar lullaby I once knew.” He paused, seeming to gather his thoughts. “My life will last forever but trifling with a mortal can feel like an eternity in hell. Humans by nature are far too slow, uncultured, undomesticated and someone my age doesn’t have the time to break something like that. But then I met you… You, curious you, who fights back, who questions me, who doesn’t want me in the way all women who have ever looked at me have. I don’t understand it, but I want to and worst of all I want you in a way I have never wanted anyone. I don’t need others, but I need you. I feel myself longing for it and whether it would be against your will or not I would change you because I cannot live without you.”

“One day you will have to,” she whispered quietly, staring at him with a bewilderment he had grown so accustomed to.

“Not today,” he whispered back, his voice much lower than hers as he leaned in and caught her lips with his. It was a bruising kiss that she felt all the way down into her toes. It ached in a way that touched her heart and soul. She felt it flow through all her veins and consume her like a fire. Her mind told her it was the blood - his blood - that made her feel like this.

Hadn’t he warned her that the blood exchange always went hand in hand with sex? Or was that the venom? Quill could hardly remember anything factual, let alone herself right now as his kisses seemed to penetrate the carefully formulated walls she had built up.

But it was something more than just the blood - or venom if that was the case - guiding her feelings, it was something she was loath to admit. She had been feeling this way for a while, brought on by the taste of danger that lingered around him and that edge of forbidden that tinted their relationship. If it was the blood that he’d given her that unlocked those desires then it only added more pressure to the tight coils of her self-control.

Her grip was slipping as were his lips, hovering over her pulse and teasing the skin before working his way back to her lips. He seemed everywhere all at once as they stood so close, nary could a breath pass between them.

Nothing about him was gentle as he gripped her wet hair tightly in his fingers, tugging at it in a way that burned with pain and burst with pleasure. Her body arched towards his, looking for him as his other hand reached out and slid along her hip relieving her of her wanton desires as he pressed hard into her.

His arousal throbbed between them and instead of pushing him away this time, instead of screaming at him, she felt herself melt against him and everything seemed to click.

The word “mate” and “mating” floated around in her head as the hand on her hip slipped down to her thigh, guiding one leg up around his waist. She didn’t care, not right now. Her body wanted only one thing and her heart was on board with that plan. Her head would just have to wait.

He hitched her upwards quickly, moving at his unnatural speed, pinning her body between his hard chest and the cool tiles behind her. Her hand came up to rest on his shoulder, curling as his tongue swept into her mouth and collected her taste. It teased the roof of her mouth sending another bout of tingles through her body before dancing against her own tongue once more. Playfully she caught his tongue between her lips, sucking on it slowly before brushing just the tips of her teeth against the plump flesh.

He growled wantonly. The sound rumbled so low in his chest that it echoed through her own and she suppressed a shudder as her nails curled into his skin. Each sharp tip bit into his flesh with delicious nips that made him groan and want her more. This time he wouldn’t wait for her approval. He knew she wanted this. Her body spoke in a language she hadn’t fully mastered with her mouth and no matter what those beautiful lips said he knew the truth. She needed him to take her to a height that she had yet to achieve.

Their bodies slipped against each other as they moved with their lips, tongues flicking back and forth in a teasing dance. His hands moved along her wet body, each move calculated to ignite all the nerve endings he touched. Nero ensured that everything he did sent her a little closer to the frenzy he was building in her core.

Stepping back from the wall Quill dipped a little, her shoulders suddenly becoming the only thing that braced her against it. Her muscles tightened to hold her upright as his mouth moved from her lips to her jaw and then her neck. Her jugular pulsed beneath his lips like it knew what was about to come, but he stalled. He would take her when she wasn’t ready for it. Then, only then, she would find ecstasy.

His mouth continued its downward search as he traced her clavicle and under the curve of each of her breasts. Her soft flesh gave way under the pressure of his lips, never getting close enough to her nipple at first making her want it even more. One hand that gripped his shoulder came to the back of his head and scratched along his scalp impatiently seeking more. When his lips finally found the first nipple and took it into the coolness of his mouth, she gasped.

He worshiped the chilled steel that penetrated the little bud, a symbol of both her disobedience to the new regime and ownership of her own body. His tongue teased it, feeling how slickly it moved from one side to the next before allowing it to catch enough on his teeth to startle a reaction from her. The rosy bud tightened and hardened beneath his lips, begging for more attention as she moaned.

Smirking he let his fangs run along the flesh, catching the barbell before scratching at her nipple teasing and slow. Her body jolted in surprise beneath him as his lips pressed harder and he rolled her little nipple between his teeth. As fun as it would be to drink from that source, he wouldn’t… yet. He chuckled, kissing it once more before working his way over to the other side.

Quill’s mind was clouded with lust. The way he worked her body like a finely tuned instrument left her breathless. He knew exactly what he needed to do to get the right reaction from her. Every touch and tease left her not just wanting but needing more. He was suddenly as important to her as oxygen or food.

His kisses whispered of promises that he had yet to fulfil, but the anticipation kept her hanging. Each kiss landed in time with a deep moan, a whimper of pleasure or a soft gasp from her. Each sound was sweeter than the last and encouraged him further as he worked his way back up her collarbone.

Her heart throbbed against her chest and he knew she was anticipating what came next. But he had the ability to choose whether what she felt was pleasurable or painful and she didn’t know that. He moved his mouth up along her collar toward her neck slowly, sucking against where the blood throbbed hardest before licking it gently.

When he pulled back to look at the spot he had marked, it was red and raw from his ministrations. From the heavy-lidded look of her eyes, she didn’t seem to mind so much anymore what was about to happen.

He shifted his hold on her thighs and hips, holding her tightly against him as he suddenly thrust himself forward and plunged deep into her without warning. At the same time, his fangs penetrated her flesh, the musk of her warm fresh blood soaked his mouth as he gulped it down with greedy sips.

Ever the master of multi-tasking Nero pulled himself away before driving into her once more letting another bout of venom seep into her bloodstream at the same time. It burned through her at a temperature just below uncomfortable. It lifted her to a hazy realm where she didn’t feel the pain of his bites or his unforgiving thrusts. Instead, everything that should have hurt her only made her body tighten more with growing pleasure. When he wasn’t pressed deep inside of her, her core throbbed with longing and ached to be filled. Anticipating the moment when pleads began to form on her lips again he reentered her, exploding white stars behind her eyelids.

Beneath him, Quill moaned in pleasure, her fingers scraping down his chest as she pushed her hips down to meet his and ground them into each other. She wanted, no, needed, more friction and Nero complied letting one hand drift down her taut belly to where her clit sat hooded and enlarged.

He could hear it singing to him as the blood pulsed to the beat of her pleasure. Finding his own rhythm, he pressed his thumb against it, rolling it slowly watching her mew like a cat as her back arch from the intensity of the direct contact. Bemused with her reactions he pressed it harder, pinching it slightly as he watched her mouth form a silent moan. He was greedy, he wanted it to be too much. He wanted her to need him so she would never be able to take a lover besides him. No man, human or immortal, would be able to satisfy her as he could. Returning his lips to her neck where rivers of blood trailed down her golden skin he leaned in and lapped it up. His mouth returned to the tiny holes he’d created and drank with greedy gulps, following the pace of her heart as he swallowed each mouthful she offered him.

Her muscles quivered as she felt the building of bliss inside her. Her fingers clenched and unclenched against his shoulder, unsure whether she had the strength to hold him or not as she panted from hanging on the sliver of reality she had left. He could feel her getting closer, her walls tightening around his cock as he pressed back in. But he wasn’t ready for her to finish yet. It was still too soon.

When he finally pulled his mouth away with a soft pop she gasped. Chuckling softly he leaned in and licked the two pinprick holes he’d created, watching them seal back up before he moved his mouth up to hers once more. When he kissed her this time, he forcefully pushed his tongue into her mouth wanting her to taste herself on his lips as they kissed deeply. She moaned and within it there was an impressive lack of disgust at what he offered her.

Releasing his hold on her legs he let her slip to the ground before turning her around as he pulled out. He enjoyed her moan of protest as he guided her hands to the low of her back and pinned them against the upward hump of her ass. For a moment, Quill felt a gathering panic, losing the enjoyment she had momentarily felt as it was replaced with the fear she felt at losing control. Nero stroked his hand down her spine like he was comforting her, but all it did was send shivers through her like a flurry of butterfly wings.

Instead, it was his lips that comforted her once more, pressing with familiarity against the back of her shoulder. Another shudder went through her but this time it was with longing. How low she had fallen to let him feel and know how much she wanted and needed this. At least he didn’t rub it in.

He didn’t wait for her to be ready before taking her again from behind, holding her hands in his. She twisted them in a useless attempt to loosen his grip as if it were her last stand in trying to tell him he didn’t have all the control right now. Except he did.

Her back arched, pressing her ass back toward him as he pressed himself back into her, burying himself to the hilt before biting her shoulder. This time his fangs remained in his mouth, but the action alone was enough to make her cry out for him.

“
Oh, Nero...
”

The way his name slithered off her lips made his stomach curl with desire. If he hadn’t already claimed her it was enough to make him do so again. He pressed his body close to hers, close enough that her hands remained pinned between them while his were free to move. One slid into her hair, gripping the wet clumps at the roots and tilted her head back watching as the column of her neck became taut with tension. Where the veins ran, her pulse jumped, calling for his bite. He wanted more, but that was the bloodlust. More from her and she would be too weak. He would never wish that for her.