31. Chapter 31

31

Chapter 31

Mia

S oren returned at dawn with news that has left my head spinning. We need to move fast, he said. Rowan's in danger, and apparently, so am I.

"They're going to kill you, Mia," he'd finally acknowledged when I'd pressed him hard enough.

No surprise there. It's basically "situation normal" since I got to this hellhole.

Except, now, it's worse.

I try to piece together everything Soren told me. Security's tightening. There's talk of…executing me once they have Rowan. The thought makes me sick. And Soren… He looked pained just sharing these details with me, like each word physically hurt him.

But how can I trust him? He's one of them. A vampire. The enemy.

Yet he's risking everything to help me. To help Rowan.

He's all we have.

I sit on the end of the bed as I try to think clearly. Not easy when it feels like my head is about to explode. The meal I just ate sits like lead in my belly. He'd insisted that I eat to keep up my strength. We don't know what we'll be facing once we escape.

Escape. Soren says he has a solid plan. But what if it all goes wrong? He mentioned something about security codes changing daily now. And the guards – their rotations are becoming more unpredictable.

I close my eyes, trying to focus. I have to trust him. Trust that he knows what he's doing.

But even if we make it out, then what? Where do we go? How do we warn Rowan? They'll be after us. A bullseye on my back. What if we get out, and I'm killed in cold blood before I can be of any use to my family?

The enormity of it all overwhelms me. Rowan's life. My life. Soren's life. It all hangs in the balance.

Without thinking, I stand and head to the bedroom door. I push it open and step into the compact living area beyond. Soren is seated in one of the chairs, head bent over a tablet, no doubt running through details. He looks up as I walk in, a curl of dark hair falling over his forehead.

"Is everything okay? I said you should sleep." He starts to rise.

I shake my head. "I can't," I whisper.

"Then just rest," he says as he walks over, stopping in front of me. "Close your eyes and let your body recharge. Sleep will come."

I shake my head. "I don't… I don't want to be alone." I lick my lips, gazing up at him. "Stay with me?"

He reaches out to stroke my cheek. "Mia…"

"Please, Soren." I put a hand on his chest. "It's not because I want to repay you or anything." I take in a deep breath. "This may be my last day on earth. Tonight, one of us…maybe even both of us…could die. I want to spend these last hours with you."

He's silent for a moment, his indigo eyes searching my face. And then slowly, he leans in. His hand cups my cheek as his lips graze over mine. I draw in a shuddering breath.

"If you're certain…" he murmurs.

"Please," I whisper against his lips. I clutch the front of his shirt when his mouth closes over mine.

Soren's lips press more insistently as the kiss deepens. His tongue traces my lower lip, seeking entry, and I open my mouth with a soft sigh. The taste of him is intoxicating – like a cool breath of winter air. My fingers tangle in his hair, pulling him closer as our tongues dance.

Without breaking the kiss, Soren bends and sweeps me into his arms. I wrap my arms around his neck, clinging to him as he carries me to the bedroom.

He sets me down on the bed, his eyes never leaving mine. I'm struck by the intensity in those blue depths. And maybe I'm crazy, but I swear that they're glowing just a little.

"Soren… I want you." I reach up, my hands threading through his dark hair, pulling him closer. His mouth moves from mine, trailing kisses along my jaw and down my neck. Every touch sends a shiver through me.

I want more.

He pauses, his eyes searching my face, giving me a chance to change my mind. My hands find his shoulders, sliding down his arms. I don't break eye contact as I slowly start to unbutton his shirt.

"Yes," I whisper. I want this. I need this.

He smiles, a flash of white in the dim room, and then his mouth is on mine again. Our lips move in perfect sync. I tug at his shirt, impatient now, and he raises his arms, letting it fall to the floor.

"Oh. Wow." I exhale the words as I take in the sight of him. He's pale as marble in the soft light. A landscape of hard planes and harder muscle. His shoulders are broad, his chest wide, and the taut lines of his belly vanish into the top of his waistband in a way that makes my mouth water. My eyes widen as he unbuttons his pants and drops them to the floor. His cock is a thing of beauty, and I'm pretty sure I never would have thought that at any point in my life.

So, this is why vampires have such a following.

"You're…perfect. Like Michelangelo sculpted you." It's a ridiculous thing to say under the circumstances, but his lips twitch at the corners, and I'm rewarded with a smile that melts my heart.

But then his hands move to the hem of my top, and I stop thinking about ancient artists. Or anything else, for that matter. I lift my arms, letting him pull my shirt over my head.

The cool air sends a shiver through me, and he notices. His eyes darken, and he leans in, pressing his lips to my shoulder, my collarbone, my breast. His tongue flicks out, tasting me, grazing my nipple, and I gasp, my head falling back.

There's a growing urgency to our movements now, a sense that this might be the last time. The only time.

His hands skim my waist, my hips, and then he's unfastening the button on my pants. I lift my hips, helping him slide them off. He kneels between my legs, his hands roaming over my thighs, my calves. His mouth follows, planting kisses along my skin, and I feel myself melting into the bed.

"So beautiful," he murmurs against my inner thigh, his breath cool on my heated skin. He looks up, his eyes burning with desire, and I know I mirror that desire. I want him.

My God, how I want him.

His hands skim higher, pushing my underwear down, baring me to his gaze. I feel exposed, vulnerable, but the heat in his eyes makes me ache.

"Mia," he breathes, and then his mouth is on me, his tongue flicking, teasing along the seam of my pussy. My hands tangle in his hair, holding him there as a moan escapes my lips.

"Fuck! Like that! Oh, my God, just like that." I'm pleading, urging him on as I feel myself getting closer, and I know it won't take much. He senses it, too, his mouth working me relentlessly, flicking over my clit in maddening circles. My fingers tighten in his hair, and I cry out as I climax, my body arching off the bed as a hot wave of pleasure rises up from my toes and continues over my skin.

He moves up my body then, kissing me deeply, his hands roaming over my curves. I can taste myself on his lips, and it sends another shiver through me.

My breath quickens, anticipation pooling low in my belly as he positions himself at the mouth of my pussy with one hand wrapped around his thick girth.

I wrap my legs around his waist. "Now, Soren. Please." I buck my hips up. He thrusts forward, filling me, and my eyes fly wide.

"Yesss," he hisses, his breath against my throat.

"Oh! God!" I gasp, wondering what happened to the air in my lungs. I can't breathe for a second. His hips move slowly at first, but the pace quickens, our bodies moving in perfect rhythm. My fingers dig into his back, my hips rising to meet his.

"Faster," I gasp, and he obliges, driving into me harder, faster. The bed creaks in protest, the headboard knocking against the wall. I don't care. I want him to take me harder, to make me forget everything but this moment, this feeling.

His mouth finds my neck, his teeth grazing my skin, and I tense a little, waiting for the sharp sting of his bite. It doesn't come, and I find myself…disappointed.

What the fuck, Mia?

Do I want him to bite me?

I don't get a chance to think about it because he's hooked his hands behind my knees, lifting my legs higher up his body, spreading my thighs until I'm wide open to him. Wide enough to find that spot…that perfect spot that takes me right over the edge of oblivion.

"Ohhh God!" I wail. My eyes roll back and my spine arches as fireworks go off in every cell in my body. I'd lift right off the bed if it wasn't for his weight pinning me down. Instead, I close my mouth over the smooth skin where his neck meets his shoulder, his flesh muffling the sound of my cries. He grunts as I sink my teeth into his skin, his hips pushing forward, thrusting in so deep I can't tell where he ends and I begin.

"Fuck…Mia…" His voice is so low and guttural I barely recognize it. A glimpse at his face should have me recoiling in horror at the sight of his eyes glowing red and his fangs fully extended. But I don't. Instead, I'm fascinated. I watch as his eyes squeeze shut, his throat corded as he comes on a growl that ripples right through me. His hips keep moving, jerking now as he releases himself into my clasping pussy.

The weight of tomorrow's dangers, the uncertainty of our future, adds a desperate urgency to our connection. I cling tighter to him, pressing small, frantic kisses to his throat, his jaw, his lips.

I'm light-headed with sensation. This isn't just physical release. It's a promise, a connection forged in the face of impossible odds. With every touch, every kiss, every gasping breath, we're defying the world that says we should be enemies. In this moment, there are no vampires or witches, no blood feuds. There's just us, Soren and Mia, clinging to each other in the darkness.

It's a while before he stops moving, his hips circling in small movements that wring every last drop of pleasure from me. Finally, he collapses on top of me, his body heavy, welcome. We're both breathless, sated.

"My God," he whispers, his lips brushing my ear.

"Yes," I manage, my arms tightening around him. I don't have any words to describe it. I just know that this feels good. It feels right. No matter how wrong the world may say it is.

He slides out of my body, rolling onto his side and taking me with him. I settle against his chest, one hand over the place where his heart should be beating. There's an odd stillness there, but it doesn't bother me. I press my face into the curve of his neck and let the tension flow out of me.

His lips graze the top of my head. "We're going to get through this, Mia. I'm going to get you out of this."

I don't reply. There's nothing to say.

I just pray that he's right.