26. Nathan

Chapter 26

Nathan

" A re you okay?" Lorna asked. "With all of this?"

Lorna looked at me with true concern, like my answer mattered to her. Like whatever came out of my mouth next would either make her day or ruin her world.

I slid my other arm around her waist but didn't pull her any closer. "I'm fine."

She laughed, catching me off guard. "Aren't men always saying that if a woman says she's fine, it really means that she's mad?"

I chuckled and shook my head. "The way your magic courses through my veins feels amazing. Your smile makes me feel like everything crazy in my life will work out. When you touch me, I want to relinquish my ironclad control and make you scream my name while I rock your world."

"Um." Lorna's eyes darkened, and her face flushed. Her arousal had my dick standing at attention. Not that it already wasn't .

"But first I need to apologize," I said, before I could no longer think with my big brain. Lorna started to say something, but I quickly brushed my lips over hers. "I'm sorry for doubting your intentions, especially with Kenrid and Damon. I regret what I said to you in the airport parking lot. I hate that I ever believed you would be my enemy."

"Nathan." Her breath warmed the side of my face, and my fangs lengthened. "You have a clan to protect. Had I been in your shoes, I can't say I wouldn't have done the same thing. But I really hope we're past all that."

"I'm past it if you forgive me," I whispered against her ear.

"You're forgiven, but only if you bite me." Mir's husky voice didn't startle me like it had in the past. Now that I knew what it felt like to be entranced by her, I'd recognize it easily. There was nothing but desire and a pleading edge in her request.

I slid my hands down the back of her thin yoga pants and gripped her toned butt. "There will be no more biting until I'm ready to claim you."

Lorna's hands trailed down my chest and around my waist. She grabbed my ass and pulled me against her. "Then you better start claiming, vampire."

I grinned, showing her my fangs. Lorna—no, Mir—stared back, running the tip of her tongue over her own tiny fangs. I groaned. My dick throbbed with need.

"Not here."

I lifted her easily, sliding my hands under her thighs to support her weight. She untangled her arms from mine and gripped my shoulders. As soon as I was confident I wouldn't drop her, I rushed through the open doors. Lorna alternated between light kisses and tiny nips along my ears and cheek. When we reached the elevator, I pinned her against the back wall and kissed her.

She moaned against my lips and kissed me back. Her hot center ground against my dick. If I wasn't dead set on making love to her in an actual bed, I would've stripped her pants off right there. But I refused to have our first time together in a damned elevator.

When the door slid open, I broke our kiss. With ragged breaths, I made a mad dash to the bedroom, kicking the door closed with my foot. I gently laid Lorna on my bed, sliding her pants off as I let her go. Her eyes blazed with desire, flickering from green to black while she toed off her shoes.

I reached for her shirt, but she smacked my hands away. "I want you naked," Mir said. "I've been dreaming of this day for way too long."

When she snapped her fingers at me with obvious impatience, I laughed and said, "Yes, Your Majesty."

I kicked off my shoes, then slowly started unbuttoning my shirt. Mir's dark eyes followed my fingers. At the last button, I untucked my shirt, leaving it to hang open. My belt buckle clicked softly, and I let my belt hang loose as well.

Mir licked her lips and inched toward the edge of the bed, putting herself within reaching distance. I waited to see if she would try to hurry me, but she didn't. Her lust-filled gaze burned a trail down my abdomen and stopped at my waist.

It was impossible to miss the outline of my erection. And the way she stared had me imagining her lips around my dick. I closed my eyes and sucked in a deep breath. I would not blow my load before she even touched me!

I flicked the button on my slacks. The pressure from my dick had the zipper sliding down without my help. I bit back the sigh of relief trying to escape. Rather than remove my pants, I shrugged my shirt over my shoulders. Mir cursed under her breath, and I laughed again.

"So impatient," I teased.

She slapped my bare stomach and grabbed the waistband of my pants and boxers. Her eyes met mine, almost daring me to tell her no. I grinned, then placed my hands over hers and pushed my pants off. Her palms slid over my hips and down my thighs, but her eyes paused when my cock finally popped free.

"I want to taste you," Mir whispered.

I started to tell her yes, but she shook her head. "Nope." Lorna's voice replaced her dhampir's. "It's too dangerous. Too tempting. Too much blood on the surface."

Her words somehow made it through my lust-addled brain. She was worried about hurting me because all my blood rushed to my dick. I stepped out of my slacks, and I kneeled in front of her. As much as I wanted to feel her hot mouth on me, I wouldn't force her to do anything.

"Then let's not tempt the fates today."

"But I really want to." Her soft whine was so pitiful I almost agreed to let her.

"I'd really love to have your mouth wrapped around me," I said. "But we'll have plenty of time for that later, when we're both comfortable with our limits."

She nodded, then wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me like I was the only man in her world. She'd definitely be the only woman in mine. I'd spent years looking for someone who would see me, understand my responsibilities, accept my team, and most importantly, someone who could love me.

I truly believed I'd found that woman.

I pulled away from our kiss and slipped my hands under Lorna's shirt. This time, she let me pull it over her head and release her beautiful breasts. Three tattoos on her chest caught my attention. I'd been part of the magical community long enough to recognize the runes, even if I didn't know what they meant. Although, I suspected they were connecting marks to her mates. The howling wolf made it obvious.

I wondered if I'd leave a mark. Vampires didn't really have any magic. We could compel humans. Our supernatural strength, speed, and senses gave us advantages, but we didn't wield magic. I shook my head, refusing to think about it when I had my beautiful mate waiting for me.

I feathered kisses down her naked body while she scooted up to the middle of the bed. I expected her to stop moving when I reached the apex of her thighs, but she continued to scoot back until her head rested on my pillow. A fierce possessiveness for her washed over me. My dhampir in my room, laying on my bed. She was about to become mine in every way.

I soaked up the sight of her bare skin, only stopping when I reached her face. Mir's black eyes stared back at me.

"I need you inside me," she growled. "Right now!"

I grinned. "You're cute when you think you're in charge." I had no intention of letting her rush me.

"Damn it! Why won't anyone let me be the boss?"

I laughed, then leaned down and kissed her inner thigh. She groaned and gripped the blankets. She might be complaining, but she clearly loved being teased. I nipped the skin on her other thigh, drawing a tiny pebble of blood, then licked it clean. Her essence tickled my tongue, but the unrelenting urge to feed off her was absent. The only thing unrelenting was the blood flow heading straight to my aching dick.

Maybe I wouldn't be drawing this out any longer.

Mir squirmed beneath my touch but didn't stop me. So I trailed my tongue up her sweet folds. A pitiful whine escaped her, and my cock throbbed. Yeah, I was done torturing both of us. I feathered kisses up her abdomen, giving special attention to her breasts.

She released the blankets and slid her arms around me, scraping my back with her nails. I bit back my groan of pleasure and pressed the tip of my erection against her entrance.

"If you ask me if I'm sure, I'm going to slap you, Nathan," Mir said.

God, this woman! I kept my mouth shut and seated myself fully into her hot core. This time I didn't hold back my moan .

"You feel amazing," I whispered, lowering my mouth to her neck.

Her fingers gripped my ass and she thrust her pelvis forward. "I need more," she whimpered.

"Whatever you wish."

A soft chuckle rumbled from my dhampir, making me smile—again.

I slowly pulled all the way out then slid back inside. My skin pebbled, and my muscles twitched with the urge to hammer into her. But I knew if I did, this exquisite pleasure would be over in seconds. I wasn't ready to be done. Not yet.

Lorna thrust her pelvis again, then swiveled her hips.

"Do you want to cum, beautiful?" I asked, resting all my weight on one arm and sliding my free hand between our bodies.

"That's a stupid question!"

I laughed. "I suppose it is."

I found her clit with the tips of my fingers, then finally gave in to my need. I slammed into her, grinding my pelvis against her and my probing fingers. She gasped and squeezed her eyes closed. I did it again and again, watching her face flush and her body arch, until she finally cried out. The walls of her pussy clamped around me with her orgasm.

My eyes rolled back, and instinct took over. I slid both of my hands beneath her ass, laying my naked body over hers, then pounded into her. Darkness consumed me with my release. I'd never felt anything like the power surging through my body and into Lorna's. It should've been draining, but it was the complete opposite. It was almost like we'd swapped blood again.

Everything around me suddenly seemed more . Every scent in the room assaulted my nose, mingling with the smell of our sex. Lorna's ragged breaths wisped in tandem with the wind blowing outside my windows. I could feel every inch of Lorna's skin pressed against mine. But I couldn't see .

I blinked furiously, trying to dispel the complete blackness. A soft swirl of lavender light caught my attention. It danced around me, almost playfully, zipping back and forth just out of reach. A red glow brightened the space behind Lorna, casting deep shadows across her face.

I could still feel her in my arms, but I would've sworn we were no longer in my bed—or even in the fortress. Panic should've had me clawing around for a door, but I couldn't move. I didn't want to move.

The lavender swirl flew around Lorna and emerged on the other side, completely entwined in a glowing drop of red. It had to be blood. My blood and Lorna's magic… it had to be. Before I could put any more thought into it, the two essences merged and raced around behind me. I jerked my head, expecting them to reappear on the opposite side.

They didn't. A sharp, stabbing pain erupted beneath my shoulder blade and burst through my chest. Lorna jerked in my arms, her soft sigh completely unexpected. Hadn't she experienced the same pain?

The darkness fell away, leaving me in bed with Lorna still wrapped in my arms. I rolled off her, searching her body for injuries. My eyes got stuck on the new tattoo softly pulsing on her chest. A deep red heart—the kind teenagers use as emojis, not the anatomically correct kind—with a drop of blood falling from the pointed end, sat above the other three runes. I almost scoffed at the ridiculous mark.

I fell back and rubbed my hands across my face. She wouldn't be the only one with a new mark, though. I jerked my hands from my face and looked at my own chest. A tiny, midnight blue bird blinked its lavender eyes at me. A feeling of contentedness radiated from it.

"Sorry," Lorna mumbled. "I forgot to mention the pocket realm thing."

I pulled my attention away from my new mark and looked over at her. I didn't care about the pocket realm. I was more concerned about the corny symbol I'd left on her body .

She poked at the heart, and her smile lit up her face. "It's perfect," she whispered. "You act all serious and broody, but you're the heart of all of us."

I snorted and raised myself up on one elbow. "No, you would be our heart."

"No one starts a non-profit like yours and actually uses it as a non-profit, unless they have a great big heart." She waved a hand at me, still smiling. "You know, when I first met you, I assumed that you were a rich megalomaniac who hid his money behind the non-profit organization." Her smile faded, but her eyes held a look of awe. "But you're not. You always put everyone else first. Your clan, your business, your team, everyone. Even me."

I didn't agree, but I wasn't about to argue, either. I'd finally claimed my dhampir. We'd found a way to keep her without jeopardizing my clan or my sanity. Yes, I'd be addicted to her blood for the rest of my long life, but I didn't care. She'd live the rest of her life with me. And my team. Together, we'd keep her safe and happy.