The Last True Vampire (21 page)

Claire shivered at his words. “Why?”

“Ronan thinks you a Vessel.” Mikhail’s voice was almost a palpable thing, vibrating along her flesh. “A human made for a vampire. Strong enough to survive the transformation and able to bear the weight of the Collective.” He let out a soft snort. “A hopeful fairy tale.”

She didn’t dare turn to face him, just focused on the sound of his voice and the way his fingers gripped her. “What’s the Collective?”

“It is our memory. Vampires are connected through blood. The single source that created us. Our memories are one and it can be a heavy burden to bear.” He paused. “It … weighs on the mind.”

No kidding.
Claire couldn’t imagine what it would be like to experience memories that weren’t hers, not to mention the obvious violation of privacy. She’d never thought about Mikhail’s endgame in all of this until tonight. He wanted to make her a
vampire
? “Why can’t I just stay me?” Was she really so bad as a human? “You said my blood is what’s important. That and the whole tethering thing.” Which she still didn’t fully understand. “Do I have to be a vampire, too?”

“Yes.”
He gripped her tighter with the emphatic word. “I yearn for you. Every single fucking day. I want you unlike anything I’ve ever wanted in centuries of existence. You ask why I’ve put distance between us. Why I’ve shut you out. It’s because I can’t bear the thought of not having you.
All of you
.”

Every word from his mouth rang with truth. An intimacy forged between them that hadn’t been there before. If it was possible, it seemed to anchor them even closer together than they already were. He could have her. All of her just like he wanted. She would gladly give herself to him if it meant she could keep feeling this way.

“What if I am a Vessel?” Stranger things had happened.

“It is a myth. There has never been record of one, nor have I found memory of one in the Collective.”

“There’s a first time for everything, Mikhail.”

“I’ve taken your blood twice. More than I should have, and your strength didn’t flag. You learned to resist my power and can’t be compelled. Your life essence is an elixir to me; you returned my soul to me. I want to believe and yet … What if I’m wrong?”

Claire wrapped her hands around his much larger ones and squeezed. “But what if you’re right?”

He stiffened behind her and she let her head fall back on his shoulder once again. His fingers curled tight around her hips. “I can’t withhold myself any longer. I won’t. Give yourself to me, Claire. Submit.”

A rush of warmth spread between her thighs and Claire took Mikhail’s hand to guide it toward the waistband of her jeans. It didn’t take much to lose herself to him. A touch. The brand of his mouth on her skin. The heat in his whispered words. Her fingers fumbled with the button and shook as she worked the zipper of her jeans down. “Touch me.” Sweet lord, her lips could barely form the words, she was so mindless with want. “God, Mikhail, I need you to put your hands on me.”

She couldn’t explain it, couldn’t identify the need that licked at her flesh and burned from the inside out. The connection that fused between them flared bright, arching and binding them in a way that Claire didn’t fully understand. She was helpless to fight it.

His hand plunged past the elastic waistband of her underwear and he cupped her heated and throbbing sex in his cool palm. Claire gasped at the sensation and he covered her mouth with his, swallowing the sound. Her nails dug into the back of his neck, and he groaned, his tongue lapping at hers, thrusting in a wild tangle that left Claire breathless and mad with desire. His finger found her clit, lightly circling the tight knot of nerves, and he pulled away, holding Claire’s face steady with his free hand while he continued to stroke her. “No male save me will ever touch you, taste you, enjoy the pleasure of your body. You are
mine
, Claire.
My mate.
” He flicked his finger over her clit and she cried out, her gaze locked on his. Silver flashed in his pupils and the intensity of his expression both frightened and excited her. “Say the words, Claire. Tell me you’re mine and no other’s.”

She could barely form a coherent thought, let alone speak. He slid his fingers through her slick, swollen lips and teased her opening. A desperate whimper escaped her as her hips thrust up to meet him. He pulled away, feathered the pad of his finger over her clit once again. A cruel, sensual torture devised to coax the words he wanted to hear from her lips. Was it a vow freely given if Claire was helpless to deny him anything?

“I’m yours.” The words pushed past her lips with little effort. “Whatever you want, Mikhail, you can have it. My body. My blood.” He already had her soul. “Anything.”

He guided one leg over the lip of the fountain and her jeans soaked through as she sank calf deep into the chilly water. Thighs spread wide, he urged her to lean back fully against him as his mouth forged a fiery path down her throat to her pulse point.
Do it!
The thought screamed through her mind with the scrape of his fangs. She shivered.
Bite me.

She’d never wanted anything more. Her cries echoed into the night as Mikhail increased the pressure, circling her clit while he sucked the tender flesh of her throat. Claire bucked her hips into his touch, clawed at his arm as his free hand ventured up her shirt and pulled away the cup of her bra. He fondled her breast as two strong fingers plunged deep into her pussy, and just when Claire didn’t think she could take another moment of blinding pleasure his fangs broke through her skin, the delicious sting accompanied by a soft pop.

“Oh! God!”

The words tore from her throat in a ragged shout that shook through her body with the magnitude of a 7.0 earthquake. A low growl rumbled in Mikhail’s chest as he thrust his fingers deep inside of her, plucked at her aching nipple, and took draw after powerful draw from her throat.

Claire squeezed her eyes shut as the orgasm seized her. Riots of color and twinkling stars burst behind her lids. Every inch of her shook violently, her body clenching and releasing with each delicious pulse, wave after wave of pleasure that stole her breath, her voice, every thought in her head, until there was nothing left to sustain her but the man who held her in his embrace. Mikhail became the center of her universe, and as she came down from the euphoric high she realized that the words offered to him were the truest she’d ever spoken. There would never be another man. Ever.

CHAPTER

16

Mikhail Aristov had been resurrected by the female in his arms. He never felt it more completely than in this moment. No longer would he cower behind another’s name, hide in the cover of shadows from his enemies. Claire belonged to
him
. Never had he believed it more than he did in this moment. The Vessel. Mother of the vampire race. And he would be a male worthy of the honor of being her mate.

His heart stuttered in his chest.
Thrump … th-thrump …
coming slowly to life until it pulsed with a vitality that sent a surge of strength coursing through his veins. He gathered Claire into his arms and cradled her body against his as he turned and took her from the hard concrete surface of the fountain down into the cool, manicured carpeting of grass that blanketed the vast lawn. He stripped her shirt and in his impatience to see her body gripped the center of her bra and ripped it free, rending the fabric as though it were made of crepe paper. Moonlight filtered down through the sky, gleaming on her pale breasts, the rosy pink nipples puckered into stiff peaks from the cool kiss of air.

Mikhail shook with the restraint it took to keep from plunging his cock to the root in her slick, tight heat. His strength was immense, unrestrained as he ripped the denim of her jeans, tearing the seam down the center in his haste to see her bare.

“Hurry, Mikhail.”

Claire’s breathy plea rippled along his flesh, resonating inside of him until he swore her need was his own. Bare feet dug into the grass as she thrust her hips up, allowing him to remove the tattered remains of her jeans and underwear.

Almighty gods—

Mikhail sucked in a sharp breath as his gaze landed between Claire’s thighs. The nest of curls was trimmed short, almost shorn completely, allowing him an unfettered view of her glistening sex. From between the swollen lips her stiff bud protruded proudly, as though begging for more of his touch. The scent of her arousal enveloped him, drove him mad with need, thirst, and lust. He tore his own shirt from his body, popping the buttons in his haste to feel his bare skin against hers. His slacks were next, and Claire leaned up, her hands shaking as she reached for him and helped to free his cock from the restraining fabric.

“I can smell you.” Wonder accented the words spoken between pants of breath, and her eyes shone in the dark like gold coins. “That scent … spicy and sweet. It’s driving me crazy.”

Human senses weren’t acute enough to pick up on the subtle scents that a vampire’s could. She smelled his desire, the mating urge that he could do nothing to hide. His body was sending out pheromones that a human might register on an unconscious level, but Claire recognized them. Responded to them. Further evidence that she was so much more than a mere human.

Though he wanted to savor her, taste every inch of her, acquaint himself with her body, urgency dictated that Mikhail take her, hard and deep. Sink his fangs into her flesh and join their bodies while he took her blood.

He gripped her hips in his hands and angled her up as he lowered his body to the cool grass. He was starved for her. Mindless with want. A low moan vibrated in his throat as his mouth met her sex and he lapped at her greedily, tasting the sweetness of her arousal on his tongue. Claire rolled her hips, grinding against his mouth. Her back arched up from the grass and she wound her fists in the strands of his hair, holding him fast against her.

“Don’t stop.” The words left Claire’s mouth in a low, drawn-out moan that caused Mikhail’s balls to grow tight. It had been so long …
centuries
since he’d sunk his cock into a female’s flesh. He was about to take her outside on the lawn like an animal, yet he couldn’t be bothered to care. Wild as any beast roaming the forest, he was guided by something larger than himself. The need to couple with this female—
possess
her—steered his singular thought. He behaved like an animal because he was one.

Claire writhed beneath him, her cries of passion filling his ears and sending him further past reason. His fangs throbbed in his gums; his throat burned as his thirst remained unsated. Mikhail’s breath sawed in and out of his chest as he pulled away, dragging his open mouth along her inner thigh. With a low moan, she spread her legs wide. “Do it. Bite me, Mikhail.”

At the moment his fangs punctured her skin Mikhail slid two fingers into the slick heat of her pussy. Claire cried out, her back bowing as she threw her arms out beside her as though to anchor herself to the ground.

Her blood flowed over his tongue, the sweetest ambrosia that intoxicated him in an instant. He’d taken the vein at her throat not a moment ago, yet he was starved for her, each swallow only igniting his thirst rather than quenching it. As Claire continued to writhe beneath him, he feathered his thumb over her stiff and swollen nub. Her inner walls clenched around his fingers as her hips bucked and his name burst from her lips on a ragged scream.

“Mikhail!”

Gods, the power.
It surged within him, ignited every nerve in his body. It took an effort of sheer will to disengage and close the wounds. He wanted to drain her. Drink from her until her heart ceased its beating. Feed her from his vein and watch as she was reborn and made his forever. Mikhail needed to tread lightly. He couldn’t allow himself this fantasy of turning her until he was certain. Already his tenuous hold on her balanced on a razor’s edge. One misstep could send her running and it would be his ruination.

Mikhail’s cock throbbed between his legs, so hard that it caused him pain. He ached for release, to spend his seed inside of her, to join their bodies as one. A low moan of pleasure answered him as he came up on his knees and grabbed Claire’s hips, jerking her toward him. He fisted his cock, guided the engorged head to her entrance, and sucked in a hiss of breath with the shock of wet heat that welcomed him.

“Yes.” Claire thrust her hips up to meet him, a frustrated groan escaping from between her clenched teeth. “I need you inside of me, Mikhail. Now. Please. God, now!”

She raked her hands through the long tangles of her hair, her eyes wild with passion. Every bit the animal he was, she worked her slick flesh over his cock, pleasuring herself with each thrust of her hips. Mikhail’s body went taut, the sensation so intense, he didn’t want her to stop. When her cries became more desperate, impassioned, he knew she was close to orgasm, and he refused to let her come until he was buried to the hilt inside of her.

“You will wait for me, Claire.” Mikhail pulled away despite her protests, bracing one arm beside her while he cupped the back of her neck with the other. He lowered his lips to hers, kissing her with a furious desperation that she answered as she slanted her mouth over his. One fang nicked her bottom lip, and he groaned into her mouth as he savored the taste of her blood on his tongue. He probed at her opening, easing in inch by torturous inch. She was so tight, she squeezed him like a fist and his body trembled with restraint.

Claire’s impatience won out over his caution. She impaled herself on him with a desperate thrust of her hips and Mikhail held her steady as she panted through a moment of stillness, a low whimper of pain pushing past her parted lips.

Her eyes drifted shut and he stroked his thumb over the pounding vein of her jugular. “Look at me.”

Mikhail refused to move until she met his gaze. Her lids fluttered open and he lost himself in the dark glittering gold. How lovely she’d look with silver flashing in contrast. With a rumbling purr he pulled out to the tip, shuddering as her tight heat sought to hold on to him. A sharp thrust and he buried himself to the root. Claire cried out, but she didn’t look away.