Chapter Twelve

Maddie's Las Vegas Bunker

Monday, 5:00 AM

Quinn couldn't tear his gaze away from her. His own body was rebelling against his control. His overloaded nerves felt singed from the excess power she'd so easily shared with him. His blood was rushing through his veins, the sound was like a roar in his ears.

It was no wonder some vampires grew addicted to this reaction.

Her hand tightened over his. The feeling was sharply exquisite, offering the temptation of touching, tasting, consuming her everything… even her soul.

Ahh… Yes, that was the source of the addiction. He'd always been led to believe that it was the magic in their blood, but the truth was so much more meaningful. Valàfrn were two parts that became one whole. Two souls bound together to form one heart.

And vampires such as him, who were missing their souls would be drawn to that powerful combination. Like air in a vacuum. The desire to find balance, to consume the double yoke of a soul as well as the excess amount of magic.

His need to understand kept him rooted and offered him the strength to resist those dangerous hungers.

"Quinn…"

A low bestial growl welled up from deep within him.

Her lips parted.

If only he could be the air which she breathed. He tried to focus on where their fingers were laced together. It was more intimate than before. She'd wanted them to be closer as well. But what he felt was so much darker than just desiring her body.

"I think I know what you're asking." She was not giving him an answer.

If she knew the question, then why hesitate? Two clear paths lay before them. If she was willing, they could find all kinds of pleasure together, the likes of which he at least had never before tasted. Doing so would only happen if they both had acceptance and trust in the other. Because taking that path meant freeing the monsters they both kept caged beneath their human skins.

If she rejected him, if he lost control over his desires, then the only other path would likely end with them killing each other.

"I want you."

"As easy as that?"

"There is nothing easy about what I want to steal from you. Nothing easy about what I'll have to sacrifice to you."

"I don't… No, I do know what you mean." The look in her eyes was molten fire. Her fingers tightened and claw tipped fingers cut into the back of his hand.

"Madeline, it's been a long time, and I will not have much control."

Her body was a blur of motion. With a twist she was astride him once more, this time pinning him down and bringing their faces close together. "Is this your way of making excuses for your performance before we even start?"

He dug his free hand into her hair and pulled her closer until they were parted by only a whisper of space. "A warning, not an excuse. I'm like a nightmare standing at the edge of your dream, looking out at a vast paradise and all I desire is to devour every bit of you. To consume you and make you part of my flesh as I break us both apart and give you everything I am."

She trembled in his grasp. Her gaze darkened to midnight as it held him transfixed in the darkness. Her voice was soft and wispy, as if the words had slipped out past her defenses. "The way you're talking to me, it's as if you're a completely different man."

He couldn't disagree. He felt different. He wanted… craved something he'd never noticed before. If he couldn't have her, couldn't love her… Words couldn't express the depth of what he was still trying to understand. "You have awakened me."

Her expression stilled. Her already heated gaze flared hotter.

"I'm going to release you. If you run, I will find a way to let you escape." His fingers relaxed within her hold.

Her hand still tangled with his moved and pulled his hand up above his head, pinning it down. Her mouth lingered beside his ear. "Even if you release me…" Her lips brushed over his skin, burning him with every word. "It seems, I'm not at all willing to let you escape."

He heard a snap inside his head and knew it was his restraint being torn apart. This woman, she was strong. All he could do was pray that she was strong enough. Because if she was hurt by the dark passions that were welling up inside him, he might not survive.

Her mouth angled over his, her teeth pressing against his over-sensitive fangs. Then she plunged forward and took command of a kiss deep enough to steal the breath he didn't even need. Their tongues battled in a slow delicious dance. One he felt everywhere as if her magic was pouring into him and racing along his nerves.

But he couldn't stay passive. With his free hand he captured her waist, locking their bodies together. He'd let her have control of the kiss, but he would take everything else. Shoving his knee between her legs he bent it and let her slide down the length until the center of her heat was anchored tightly around him.

She writhed against his hold. Even the tiniest of motion raised a fiery friction between their needs. Which of course he encouraged, bucking slightly to meet each advance.

And that kiss.

Madeline seemed determined to press all his vampiric buttons. She licked his fangs, over and over until he growled. Then instead of backing off, she grew bolder, fiercely biting his lip and then deepening the kiss once more.

And then she broke all the rules, cutting her tongue on his swollen fang and feeding him one drop of her blessing.

He was lost. That one drop momentarily stole his reason. The hunger within him rose up and demanded satisfaction. He'd steal another drop or a cup, or a gallon, enough to finally be filled with her life. With her strength, her magic. Her love…

Enough to drain her of everything that he could take and make his own.

While he fought for control over his desire. He wanted more than a moment of thrill. He wanted… aww hell, he wanted her beside him. For more than a day. He'd had eight hundred years without her. The next eight hundred with her would be a nice start.

The madness subsided, but the desire for her only rose higher. "I need to be inside you."

"Yeah."

"Lose the clothes."

She whimpered as if loath to pull back enough to strip. Then her body glowed for a moment as if covered in golden smoke. For one second, she was in wolf form above him, her huge paw on his hand, her muzzle pressed to his cheek. Then she shifted back to her so sexy woman form. Completely naked and hot enough to make him steam. Or at least to harden even more.

She was breathtaking. Her cloud of black curls and all her smooth brown skin. And the hint of shadow over her center. And her eyes… Dear God, how could she have such wild and tempting eyes, dark, rich brown, with flecks of gold, so deep he could drown in them?

"Maddie, my beautiful Maddie."

He had to have her, take her, dominate her. And he damn sure couldn't do it from the bottom.

Launching upward, he spun them and crushed her back into the mattress. His lower half landing between her parted thighs. His cock pressed tight against her entrance.

His slacks were the only thing keeping them apart.

Shoving them open and down in a single motion, he thrust into her waiting heat.

Maddie gasped. Then her claw tipped fingers fisted in his hair. She growled, "No."

And he froze.

"Ahh…" She arched beneath him. Her powers sizzled through him and turned his favorite slacks into fine ash. "I'll fix them later." She dragged him into a kiss and rocked her hips over him, taking him deeper.

For that moment when he'd thought she was rejecting him, his death had been swift but when she welcomed him in, he'd come back to life in an instant. Now all his dreams were laid out before him. His powers flared, enveloping them both in sweet promises of pleasure and satisfaction.

"Quinn… yes, more."Maddie's mental cries whipped through him.

Hearing her thoughts touch his mind, he almost lost control. Why were her thoughts even more powerful than her amazing body?

He drove into her waiting heat, allowing their focus to tighten on where they came together. Over and over, shallow and deep, more and more. He couldn't get enough but was drowning in her every reaction.

Her thighs around him, her body clenching, her nails clawing into his freshly healed back. And the sweet sounds she released as she thrashed beneath him. Like prey…

His needs and powers deafened him.

Maddie had everything he had to have. He couldn't resist her summons. Her cries of pleasure. The desperate sound to her raw voice. Or the way her mind opened to him, offering glimpses of her own desires.

It broke his resolve.

Tore apart his restraint.

Destroyed his sense of reason.

Those powers that he held in check nearly all the time, were released completely, turned free to wreak havoc on the building, the room, the bed and on them both.

Maddie cried out. Her body locking down on his. Her climax shattering the last of his good intentions.

He fell on her then, sank his fangs into her throat, a violent invasion meant only to devour her. Her fire and joy filled up his darkness. Releasing all his strength into her. His satisfaction finally easing his madness.

She didn't fight him, instead she clung to him, holding him close, angling her neck to offer herself up like a sacrifice.

Was it his pheromones, his powers that would steal her willpower? An icy chill shot through his pleasure. He didn't want to force anything on her. But he did. But no, he wanted her to want him. But he didn't care. But he wanted to care for her, to treat her well.

His demon blood warred with his heart.

He backed his fangs out and gently nibbled at the ravaged flesh until the skin knitted back together. His powers and her own healing the injury in mere seconds.

Maddie cupped his cheek in her palm. Turning him into a soft kiss, less wild but so very sweet.

He rolled to the side, regretting the way it parted their bodies. But loving how she immediately slid her thigh over his to sustain the connection.

Laying still while the world settled down around them, it offered the perfect moment to reflect. Instead, he held her close, offering his arm as her pillow and staring into her beautiful eyes.

He was sure he'd never been so happy.