The Dark Vampire: Last True Vampire 3 (6 page)

Ronan grumbled under his breath but didn’t bother to argue. The male was as fiercely protective of his mate as Mikhail was of Claire. So why condemn Jenner for a reaction that was as much biological as it was . . . what? Emotional?

For fuck’s sake, he didn’t even know Bria.

A knock came at the door and the hairs stood up on the back of Jenner’s neck. He was wound so fucking tight he might spring through the ceiling at any moment. Claire peeked her head into the study, her golden eyes alight with mischief. “How’s it hangin’, fellas?”

Mikhail gave her a look. “How’s Bria?”

“Right as rain,” Claire replied. “She’s worried about big, bad, and broody over there, though.” She jutted her chin in Jenner’s direction and he scowled. “For some reason, she’s under the impression that he’s starving to death and she wants to do something about it.”

“She’s offered to feed him?” Ronan choked.

Jenner glared a hole through the other male. Was it so far-fetched that she would be concerned for him? They were tethered after all. “She asked for me?” Ronan’s incredulity aside, Jenner couldn’t help but be surprised. He’d all but attacked her not an hour ago.

“Uh-huh,” Claire said with a grin. “Think you can behave long enough for a snack?”

That Bria had offered him her vein was enough to bring Jenner to his knees. How could he possibly exercise control when all he wanted to do was open her vein and glut himself on her blood?

“No,” Mikhail said. “He’s not even close to being in control.”

“Mikhail, you were fangs deep in my neck thirty
seconds after we met.” Claire turned to Ronan and added, “How long was it before you were latched on to Naya and slurping like your life depended on it?”

He gave her a rakish smile. “Your mate has a point, Mikhail. Did either of us have comparable control upon our tethering?”

“Feeding is bound to calm him down,” Claire suggested. “I’m no vampire expert, but it does wonders for the both of you.”

“Keeping them apart is only going to compound the situation,” Ronan agreed. “And yeah, her uncle’s going to need to know, but it’s not like Bria is some teenager caught in the back of her boyfriend’s car. Thomas has to acknowledge that a tether trumps even familial obligations.”

“Someone should go with you, Jenner.” Mikhail obviously wasn’t convinced that Jenner could control himself. Hell, Jenner wasn’t even sure he could. “At least for the first time.”

“Bria can handle it.” All eyes turned to Claire, and Ronan raised a skeptical brow. “They can both handle it. Have a little faith, would you?”

Mikhail gave a sharp nod of his head. They were a bunch of hopeful fools if they thought Jenner could keep his shit tight. But Mikhail also knew that the longer Jenner waited to feed, the more mindless he’d become. And if that were to happen gods help them all.

Claire swung the door open wide and stepped to the side. “We’re close if you need us.” The queen might have championed him, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t without doubt.
Great.
They all knew—including Jenner—that he was nothing more than a mindless, starving beast. Maybe they’d all be better off if Mikhail put him down.

With mechanical steps, Jenner climbed the stairs to the second story. By the time he reached Bria’s room, his hands shook and the fire in his throat raged with thirst.
He knocked on the door—which seemed asinine considering how he’d barged in earlier—and waited.

“Come in.”

Gods, the sound of her voice. As smooth and sweet as honey from the comb. Jenner turned the knob and slowly eased open the door, his breath still in his chest. The sweet scent of her blood slammed into him and Jenner’s fangs throbbed in his gums as the bloodlust once again swept him up in its frenzy.

How in the hell could he possibly exercise control when he wanted her so badly?

She didn’t say a word, simply rose from the chair and crossed the room toward the bed. A lump formed in Jenner’s throat and he swallowed it down. Tight cotton pants that were more like a second skin than a garment clung to her legs and a long wispy shirt swayed with her movement, camouflaging the curves underneath. She was taller than he’d first thought. Strong, yet soft and curvy with pert, full breasts that Jenner knew would perfectly mold themselves to the palms of his hands. His cock stirred and he willed the bastard not to further betray his arousal; he was sure his own scent was already doing a bang-up job of that.

Bria settled on the mattress, her legs tucked beneath her, and swept the length of her dark hair over one shoulder, baring her throat to him.

Fucking hell.
This was
torture.

Jenner’s throat went dry, his thirst igniting like dry kindling. One foot shuffled in front of the other as he made his way to the bed. Toward the scent of blood that called to him like no other could.

Mine.
The word echoed in some primal part of his brain over and again. His hands balled into fists at his sides as he inhaled deeply. His gaze settled on the pulse point of her delicate neck throbbing gently under the skin.
A low growl rumbled in his chest. He could think of nothing but taking her vein.

Words formed and died on Jenner’s tongue. He’d fucked and fed from females without exchanging a single syllable, and yet the thought of treating Bria with the same casual indifference cut through him like a well-honed blade. The sudden return of his soul was doing a serious number on him. Anticipation thickened the air, and had Jenner needed to breathe he was sure he would have choked on the intake.

“Please, sit.”

Her eyes met his and Jenner’s step faltered. Delicate and refined, this female was everything that Jenner wasn’t. How could Fate have bound their souls together? He was a harsh, barren desert compared to her dewy petal softness.

The mattress gave way beneath his weight as he settled down beside her. She released a slow, shuddering breath and her scent soured with the citrus tang of her fear. Jenner’s heart clenched as he shot to his feet. She was afraid of him. He was nothing more than an animal to her.

“No, don’t leave.” Bria reached out and caught his hand in hers. Her satin-soft touch coaxed a low growl to Jenner’s throat.

“You’re afraid.” The words grated like sandpaper. He couldn’t bear to look at her. To see the evidence of that fear on her face.

“I’m anxious,” she said. “No one has ever taken my vein.”

Jenner turned to find her soft expression guileless. Dhampirs drank blood, though less frequently than vampires. It seemed impossible that she’d never offered her vein to a member of her coven. “Never?”

“My uncle wouldn’t permit it. We’re tethered, Jenner.
You need to feed.” She looked up at him from lowered lashes. “And so do I.”

Jenner sat back down beside Bria. He turned her wrist in his grasp, but she pulled away. “No.” Once again, she swept her hair away from her throat. “From here.”

Sweet gods.
As Jenner leaned in and inhaled the tantalizing fragrance of her blood he sensed that this delicate female would surely be his undoing.

Bria’s
body came alive in Jenner’s presence. Tiny currents of electricity that traveled the length of her spine, tingled at the tips of her nipples, and settled as a low thrum between her legs. She was painfully aware of him. His sheer size overwhelmed her. Yes, the prospect of having his fangs at her throat frightened her. She wanted to be afraid, though. To push past that fear and
live
.

Jenner reached out to cradle the back of her neck in his massive palm. The heat of his skin seared her and at the same time coaxed gooseflesh to the surface of her skin. With his thumb at her jaw he angled her head to the right, and Bria clutched her hands in her lap to keep them from trembling. Time seemed to slow as Jenner lowered his mouth to her throat, his breath a heated caress that caused her stomach to clench. His lips sealed over her flesh with a shock of wet heat and his tongue flicked out at her skin before he sucked gently.

Oh, gods.
A rush of wetness spread between her thighs and Bria sighed. Her sex pulsed in time with her heartbeat
and her eyes drifted shut as Jenner bit down, piercing her flesh with his razor-sharp fangs.

A moan slipped from between her lips with the first deep pull of his mouth. Fiery heat raced through
Bria’s veins and her fists uncoiled, only to wind in the fabric of Jenner’s shirt. Feeding had always been perfunctory for Bria. And she’d only taken blood when necessary, four or five times a year and only from the wrist, since drinking from the throat was forbidden in her uncle’s coven. She’d never realized that the act could be . . .
sensual.

Jenner groaned against her throat, a sound that bordered on pain.

Bria’s own thirst ignited and she swallowed against the searing heat. She’d never known such raw, urgent need. Her bloodlust had been difficult to manage over the past few days, but now she found it nearly impossible to control. Her gums throbbed as her secondary fangs elongated and her mouth became dry.

Jenner gripped her tighter and pressed his body close to hers. The male was a wall of muscle, hard, unyielding flesh that Bria yearned to touch. He bit down harder and a whimper escaped her lips. She’d never felt so
good,
so in tune with her true nature. Jenner’s hand flexed at the back of her neck, the blunt ends of his fingertips digging into her flesh. Her limbs grew deliciously heavy and her lids drifted shut. She would sit like this for hours, with his mouth on her throat, if it pleased him.

So quickly it made her head spin, Jenner laid her body out on the mattress and settled himself between her thighs. Bria gasped as the hard length of his erection pressed against her core through their clothes and another shock of heat raced through her body. A brazen male, to be sure. He rolled his hips in slow, shallow thrusts as he fed and a low growl rumbled in his chest.

Bria’s breath came in quick pants and her hands abandoned Jenner’s shirt to grip his massive shoulders. Swept up in sensation, in bloodlust, and in the tether that inextricably bound them together, she met every thrust of his hips as pleasure built to a fevered pitch inside of her. Her own innocence became a burden with the mounting friction of Jenner’s movements. She’d pleasured herself before, knew her own body. But the need for release that built inside of her now bordered on desperate. Wild. Everything about this moment was foreign to Bria. As though she’d never truly known her own body—herself—until this moment.

“Please, Jenner.” She fought the urge to plunge her hand into her underwear and pleasure herself. She knew that the orgasm would pale in comparison to what Jenner could give her. She wanted him to end the desperate want that swelled within her. Wanted the length of the erection that brushed her through their clothes deep inside of her. Her thirst raged and she pierced her bottom lip with her fangs, lapping at the blood that welled there. It wasn’t enough to satisfy her. She needed more. She needed
him
.

His thrusts grew wilder, harder, and Bria gasped. Her body coiled tight and she sensed that in a few short moments Jenner would shatter her completely. Anticipation swirled in her stomach, her heart raced, and her muscles contracted.
So close.
Gods, she wanted—no,
needed
—to come.

Jenner pulled away with a snarl, eyes alight with silver, brow furrowed in pain, and mouth stained with her blood. Bria had never seen a fiercer creature. Fierce and
magnificent.
Unanswered need crested within her and tears sprang to her eyes. She willed them not to flow. Refused to let this powerful male see even an ounce of weakness in her. Her breath raced in her chest as Jenner’s gaze locked on to her mouth. Hunger shone in his expres
sion and Bria brought shaking fingers to her bottom lip and wiped away the droplets of blood that formed there.

“I’m sorry,” he said through pants of breath. “I didn’t mean to—” The furrow in his brow deepened and a low growl vibrated in his chest. He didn’t mean to . . . what? Show her how much pleasure could be found in offering her vein to another? “I didn’t mean to handle you so roughly.”

Roughly?
Gods, he hadn’t been rough enough. Bria tried to push the words past her lips, but they wouldn’t budge. What would he think of her if she told him the truth? That she wanted him to strip her clothes from her and take her like some wild thing with mindless abandon.
You’re a naïve fool, Bria. You know as much about wild abandon as you do about being a vampire.

Jenner pushed himself up on the mattress and helped Bria to sit. Did he think her so weak and pathetic that he should treat her as though she were made of glass? “I took too much from you. You need to feed.”

She did, but Bria needed so much
more.

Jenner’s wild gaze settled on her throat once again and another delicious rush of pleasure shot through her. That he drank deeply of her and still wanted more filled her with a sense of power. He didn’t move to take her again, however. His body stilled and his nostrils flared with breath. Jenner was obviously a male with ravenous appetites but even stronger self-control.

If only Bria could be so strong.

She rose up on her knees. He was so tall, she almost couldn’t reach his neck. Her thirst blazed hot in her throat and his scent swirled in her head: a clean, masculine musk that caused her breath to quicken. This was the most intimate moment she’d had with any male.
Anyone,
really. Her uncle’s stern overprotectiveness kept even the members of their coven at a distance, and over the years it had
made Bria feel empty and isolated. She’d lived more in three days as a vampire than she had in all of the previous decades of her existence.

Leaning over Jenner’s body, she angled her mouth toward his throat. His body stiffened and his hands came up to grasp her wrists in iron. He eased her slowly away from his body and a slight tremor vibrated from his clenched fists through Bria’s body. Jenner’s Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat and his eyes flashed bright silver as his gaze met hers. “No. From my wrist.”