9. Talon

CHAPTER 9

Talon

" I f you're planning on killing me, could you please get it over with ," I said, my paws growing tired from traipsing through the thick jungle on the island.

Cassandra paused the hike, glancing over her shoulder with a look that was equal parts hurt and playful. " How many times have I told you? If I wanted to kill you, I would've done it already ," she assured me. " And besides ," she continued. " You're the one who was complaining about being bored stuck in the house. "

" You know you're getting stir-crazy too ," I said, huffing and following her as she continued an upward climb that seemed like it had no plateau in sight. " I may have been in stasis for five hundred years, but even my dreams were more entertaining than your mother's endless prattling. And at least you get to be in your true form most of the time. "

" True ," she said, shifting some vegetation out of her way and continuing upward. " But you truly are a fantastic cat. I'm not sure which version of you I prefer more. This one or the one that has that delicious blood flowing through his veins . It's true what they say about aged blood. Gods, it's divine."

I growled, low and possessive at her mentioning drinking from me.

It's been hard to think about anything since. Killing that nonconsenting piece of shit vampire yesterday had definitely helped distract me a little from the instincts begging me to bite her again. She'd graciously not mentioned the kill when we'd awoken, or in the time since. She also somehow hadn't mentioned what happened afterward, which I could barely explain myself.

I'd reacted purely on instinct as I watched the handsy vampire corner her. Waited as long as I possibly could for her to take matters into her own hands. And the second I saw her unable to push him off and his fangs going for her neck, I struck. There was no thought behind it except he was trying to take what was mine .

But she wasn't mine. So where the fuck did that come from?

It didn't matter, because afterward I'd relished that kill in a way I hadn't relished a kill in a very long time. It'd felt justified in my heart, and the aftershocks following it kept me in thermal primal mode for longer than made sense.

I wanted to rip into not only him but also her mother, the mysterious brother that we couldn't get information on, and anyone else who wanted to treat her like garbage when she was a fucking queen of a vampire. She'd undergone phycological torture from her family for decades and still offered herself up to come back to the source of all her pain for just a chance at helping save innocent lives.

I wanted to kill them all.

I'd wanted to gorge myself on their blood and rip out their spines after days and days of listening to them talk down to her.

I'd been ready to. I'd been standing there contemplating it in her room. I might very well have if she hadn't spoken to me so softly, without judgment, with nothing but understanding in her eyes.

Those damn brown eyes had looked into me. Had somehow managed to make me feel vulnerable in a way I never had before. I'd clung to her last night. Clung to the way she made me feel— whole .

Clearly, I'd slipped a rung on my mental ladder.

She could've given me hell for it too. Could've used it as verbal fire in the game we liked to play.

But she hadn't.

Instead, we'd endured another long-suffering night with her mother until finally she was able to sneak away. Cassandra had changed into a loose-fitting cotton dress, a black bikini beneath it, and ventured into this sweltering jungle that seemed dead set on killing me.

The heat was stifling, even at night. It felt like the sun bore down on us from every direction possible.

"Here we are," she said just as the ground leveled out, her hands pushing apart thick green leaves to reveal a breathtaking view.

I padded up to her side, the feel of magic crackling all around the area. The vegetation gave way to a cerulean blue patch of water, the roar of an accompanying waterfall sliding down a mountain across the way. The sky was clear behind it, the stars and moon shining enough to coat everything in silver.

Cassandra took another step forward, hissing slightly as a shiver ran down her body. She turned to me. "You can shift back now," she said, and I tilted my panther head.

She motioned to the body of water behind her, then the mountains and the waterfall and all the green vegetation in between.

"This is where my father liked to bring his mistresses when he couldn't get away from the island. Not to mention all the business calls he made. He had it completely warded against my mother and any of her talem. No one is going to find us here. We're completely safe to be ourselves."

I padded over the threshold, feeling the zap of magic sear down my spine. I immediately shifted. I hadn't known we were coming on this little adventure, so I hadn't brought sweats. I wasn't a modest male, but I certainly didn't want to make Cassandra uncomfortable.

But it looked like that was the last thing she felt, her eyes widening as they trailed down the length of my body, lingering on my lower half before she came back up to meet my eyes again.

She smiled while digging in the bag she had slung over her shoulder. "I always love it when the reality ends up being something so much better than the fantasy," she said, then chucked a pair of swim trunks at me. "You can wear those if you want. Or not," she teased before hurrying down to the bank, dropping the bag and lifting the cotton dress over her head and dropping it into the bag.

My mouth went dry at the sight of her body covered only in thin strips of black fabric, the bikini tied with strings on the side. All it would take is one tug and she'd be naked and bare to me.

I cleared my throat and tugged on the swim trunks, the blood turning hot in my veins as she dove into the water, swimming a bit before popping back up.

"Oh, it's fantastic," she said, dipping her head back into the water as she treaded.

I made it to the bank, hesitating as I watched her, the pulse thrumming in my veins with every instinct firing to bite and claim and fuck.

"Are you coming?" she asked. "Or are you just going to stand there and analyze my intentions?"

The female could certainly read me, which was refreshing since I'd never had that kind of understanding with a partner before.

Not that she was my partner.

I slowly walked into the water, sighing as its coolness hit my flushed skin. "I suppose this wouldn't be such a terrible place to die," I said as I made my way over to her. "If you were to try and strike."

"Try being the optimal word," she said, her hands moving back and forth lazily through the crystal blue water. She glanced down, shaking her head. "I could barely fight Archibald off. I wouldn't stand a chance against you. Not that I would ever try."

I studied her, wondering if she spoke the truth.

All my instincts said she was, that deep intrinsic feeling inside of me that was likely half the connection I'd created between us and half something else I couldn't explain. I'd absolutely despised her when I first met her, just because of what she had done and what she represented. A spoiled rich female vampire from a traitorous family who had tried to trick the king into thinking she was his mate.

Now that I'd gotten to know her a little bit and spent time with her—hell, even tasted her blood, I knew she wasn't any of those things. She may have made a mistake with Alek, but her heart wasn't a traitorous one.

"I'm starting to believe that," I finally said, swimming closer to her so that I could tip her chin up to meet my eyes. "After all, you couldn't even stand it when I was hungry," I continued, referencing the first time I'd thought of her as anything but selfish. "You didn't like seeing me in pain, so you fed me." That action had spoken volumes about who she was at her core. "I'm starting to think you're warming up to me."

Cassandra scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Don't think so highly of yourself," she said. "I told you, I could feel your hunger. It was annoying as fuck. That's the only reason why I fed you. You being in pain had nothing to do with it. And the only reason I'm warming up to you is likely a result of the orgasms you delivered so graciously the other night. Bodily reactions. Nothing more."

I smirked down at her, easily reading the lies in her eyes.

There was more to it than that, but if that's what she needed to tell herself to be comfortable, then so be it. It wasn't like I knew what the fuck was happening between us, but I was over trying to figure it out.

"Speaking of hunger," she continued when I didn't say anything in response. "It's been five days." She glanced around the gorgeous, almost secret paradise we'd surrounded ourselves in. "We're all alone. No risk of getting caught." She lifted her head, exposing her neck to me. "You should feed."

I growled, my fangs punching out at the mere mention of feeding from her. It was so much easier to ignore when she wasn't bringing it up.

I yanked her against me, instantly bringing our bodies flush in the cool water. "And you wanting to feed me has nothing to do with liking me," I said, still smirking at her.

Her palms slid over my chest and around my neck, her legs instantly wrapping around my hips as the cool water sloshed between us. I grazed my hands down her body, palming her ass as her thighs clenched around my hips.

"And you rubbing against me like your life depended on it has nothing to do with liking me either, right?"

Her fangs distended, and she grabbed a handful of my hair, yanking hard enough to expose my neck. "I like the way your body makes me feel," she said. "Plus, I haven't been able to stop thinking about your blood since I got my first taste. Mind if I take another sip?"

My blood spiked at the way she looked, all drenched and wet and hungry…for me .

I lifted her just enough to glide her against my hard cock, teasing her. "Look at those aristocratic manners," I teased, nodding at her question. "I'll bite if you do," I said, skimming my lips over the soft patch of flesh on her shoulder.

She struck.

I groaned, the feeling of her fangs sinking into me as equally pleasurable as if she'd grabbed my cock. I thrust against her at the same time I sunk my fangs into her shoulder, her blood spilling into my mouth, laced with desire.

We drank a few mouthfuls before simultaneously breaking apart for air, then our mouths clashed together on pure instinct and I forgot myself entirely.

She kissed me hard and fast, with an edge of desperation that I could feel vibrating her entire body. We were matched in that, my instincts fully taking over as I slid one hand between her thighs, sighing at the contact of her warmth against my fingers.

She whimpered into my mouth as I upped the pace of my hand, using it to bring her to the edge with vampiric speed.

"Talon," she gasped, her head falling back as I felt her flutter around my fingers. "Gods," she continued. "How..." She was practically incoherent, and I was drunk on it.

Drunk on her. Her body, her blood.

Bite. Claim. Fuck.

The instincts pulsed beneath my skin, filling every crevice of my soul as I got to work on her.

Gone were the worries of her being a traitor.

Gone was the hatred and disdain I had for the kind of family she came from.

We were now stripped to our baser needs.

Her blood and mine.

Her body and mine.

"Do you want more?" I asked, the only civility left in me knowing I needed her full permission before I unleashed myself on her.

"Yes. Gods, please yes ."

I smirked, pure male pride radiating through me as I quickly rid her of the bikini with a few simple flicks of my fingers on the ties at the side. The thing floated off in the distance, leaving her completely bare and soaking wet as she clung to me.

She made quick work of the swim shorts, using her strength to rip them right off my body, making me chuckle.

"This doesn't mean I like you," she said, her voice laced with need and agitation, but it sounded like she was trying to convince herself.

"There's my needy little viper," I said, gripping her ass again and shuddering at how damn good she felt against me.

She was all lithe muscles and smooth skin with simple curves that had me aching to worship every single one of them.

I rocked her heat over my aching cock, making us both groan from the tease. The chemistry and sexual tension had built between us over the weeks we'd been locked together on this mission, and our first feeding hadn't done anything to quell it.

It only heightened the need, and while I couldn't wait to slam home inside her, I was enjoying her aggravation just a little too much.

"Why don't you beg for it," I said as her thighs clenched and she wriggled, trying like hell to get me inside her.

It was easy enough to hold her at bay, but I swore my knees felt like they were going to buckle where my feet touched the bottom of the water.

She went wholly still in my embrace, her eyes locking with mine, a fire igniting behind them. "I'll never beg," she said with equal venom.

I gripped her thighs a bit harder, relishing the moan that escaped the back of her throat as I rocked just outside of where she needed me most. "Are you sure about that?"

She nodded, but her lips were parted on a gasp, her eyes hooded. I kissed the line of her neck, just beneath her jaw, grazing my fangs over the delicate flesh there and shuddering as she trembled against me.

Our bodies were like an electric current firing and buzzing with each connection.

"Come on," I said. "You know you want to."

She smiled, slanting her mouth over mine in a kiss that tasted of us both. She jerked back quickly, escaping my grasp before I knew what she was doing. She dipped underwater, using her vampire speed to make it across the water in a matter of heartbeats before popping up again.

"You're the one who's going to beg," she fired back, climbing onto the bank near the waterfall and using her speed to disappear behind it.

Challenge and delight flared inside me. I chased after her despite telling myself I should keep up the facade a little bit longer.

I dipped through the waterfall, the roaring sound crashing all around us, the smell drenching the small cave behind it. It was even colder here, and I groaned at the sight of Cassandra standing there, soaking wet, her nipples peaked from the chill.

She was fucking glorious to look at. A queen in her own right, powerful and stronger than she even knew.

Her smile took my breath away, something internally shifting inside me that I couldn't understand and venomously ignored. "Cassandra," I said in a warning tone.

"Talon," she mimicked me, running her hands down her naked body and sighing when she grazed between her thighs. She stroked herself there, never taking her eyes off me.

I growled at the sight.

"If you won't do it," she said, her breath hitching. "Then I guess you'll just have to watch me do it myself."

"I could watch you do that all day," I said, but didn't mean it one bit.

Not in the state I was in. I usually delighted in being the dominant one, enjoyed making my partner beg, but Cassandra was something else entirely.

I breached the distance between us, claiming her mouth with mine, but she moved away, putting distance between us and tsking me. "You have to beg for it," she said in the most seductive voice I'd ever heard. The tone called to every single one of my obedient receptors, as if she were the leader of my hunter pack giving me an order.

And in that moment, I knew that whatever she asked of me, I would do.

I didn't have an explanation for it, but I knew it down to my bones.

I dropped to my knees before her, and her eyes flared. Her shock was worth everything .

I gently gripped her hips and dipped my head, nuzzling myself between her hand and her beautiful glistening pussy. She moved herself out of the way, and I licked through her heat, groaning as her flavor hit my tongue. Her hands flew to my shoulders, a gasp tearing through her lips as I licked at her again and again.

"Talon." My name rolled from her tongue in a breathless way that made me feast on her harder, knowing she was close again.

I could taste it, her sweet and salty desire coating my tongue with each pass. I rocked my face against her, shifting one free hand off of her hip so I could glide through her wetness, sinking two fingers inside her as I tongued her clit.

She rocked into me, gasping and breathless as I danced her right up to the edge of pleasure.

And then I pulled back enough to look up at her, smirking as I continued to work her with my fingers before keeping my eyes on her as I sucked her clit into my mouth hard and long.

Her entire body trembled around me as she came, her flavor bursting on my tongue as I swallowed her down, only to shift my head slightly to the right and sink my fangs into her soft inner thigh, making her moan louder as I sucked her orgasm-tinted blood into my mouth.

"You're the most delicious thing I've ever tasted," I growled as I licked the wounds closed. I stood up, lifting her with me.

She immediately locked her ankles around my back, claiming my mouth as I lined up my hard cock with her slick center. I caught her gaze for just a moment before lowering her inch by inch, needing to see every single one of her facial expressions as I seated her to the hilt on me.

She was exquisite, every emotion playing out on her face.

Submission and pleasure and need and hunger. All of which were likely mimicked in mine.

I walked her toward the stone cave wall, using it as leverage to pull myself out and slam home again.

"Gods," she moaned, her nails digging into my shoulders as she clung to me. "Do that again."

I obliged her. Increasing my pace over and over again, pounding into her with every instinct that barreled inside my body.

Claim. Fuck. Bike. Mine .

I ignored the last one, trying my best not to feel territorial even though I'd murdered a vampire for touching her the wrong way. Fuck, who was I kidding? I would do it again. No one could touch her. No one but me .

I pounded into her harder, doing my best to submit myself to sensation instead of thought.

She felt hot and slick all around me, her skin like silk against my body, the taste of her in my mouth, her tongue dancing against mine…it was everything.

And just as I felt myself careening toward release, she jerked her mouth away from mine and moved us with such speed I barely even registered that she'd put me on my back and was now riding me on the cave floor.

I looked up at her, in awe of how radiant she was riding my cock. I groaned at the sensation of it. There was no hesitance in her, no shyness. She knew what she liked, what she wanted, and she took it from me, but was giving everything back in return.

I growled, my fangs aching with every roll of her hips, every time she lifted herself completely off of me simply to slam home again.

She was everything.

And I never wanted her to fucking stop.

"Fuck me," I growled, all my senses firing and heightening at the same time.

"Isn't that what I'm doing?" she snapped back, bracing her palms on my chest as she rode me harder, the most mischievous little smirk shaking her lips.

She increased her pace, rolling and rocking her hips over me at a speed that I could only hold onto. She fluttered around me, her orgasm ramping up the harder she fucked me, and I sat up, bringing us chest to chest, my hand snaking around her back to help her move with more force.

She gasped, moaning every time we crashed together.

Our pleasure synched up in a crescendo that was reaching its crest, washing us away in it.

"Talon, I'm coming," she moaned, and I moved her hair to the side, exposing the other side of her neck. "Talon, please," she said, still moving against me.

I could feel my release building at the base of my spine, and I managed to sink my fangs into her neck at the same time I came, her moans of pleasure ripping through her before she bit me too.

We drank and rocked ourselves through the aftershocks before sealing the puncture wounds and finding each other's mouths again.

I held her to me, half afraid she might try to run away now that reality was just on the cusp of swallowing us again.

She leaned back from me just enough to look at my face, her eyes more open than I'd ever seen them before.

She smiled first, then I did, and then we were both laughing. I'm not sure at what, but I didn't give a fuck.

I slid my hands up and down her silken back, already feeling the need for her again. "Still don't like me?" I teased.

"Not even a little bit," she said.