Chapter Thirty-Eight

"Ahhhh!" Nyko arched his neck,pressing his head into the rocky floor as a full-on blast of Faith's scent bombed the cave room, fumigating the entire small interior in the space of a second. It swirled, tickled, consumed…yes, yes, yes, more, more…The ventricles in his brain vacuumed it up and his lungs ballooned.

Shon—never any good at managing himself around aromatic females—let loose a low, lusty growl, his fangs springing down into his mouth. And suddenly he was no longer a younger brother, but a rival male Varcolac.

Nyko bolted upright and clamped a fist around Shon's throat. He snarled, snapping his fangs inches from his brother's face, then let go.

Shon reacted immediately to the not-so-subtle territorial communication and retreated back against the wall next to the entrance, his gaze black fire.

Nyko flopped back onto his spine, adrenaline spent.

Faith watched the two-second exchange with wide-open eyes.

A guttural noise spilled out of Nyko, his nostrils fluttering. With one hand, he gingerly cupped his crotch. His man-parts were in serious jeopardy of being squeezed unto death by Faith's scent. It made him want to do the horizontal bop with her and stuff his aching balls down a garbage disposal all in one certifiable moment. With his other hand, he grabbed Faith's wrist and pulled her toward him.

She'd won. He'd feed on her. Of course she'd won. No way did he have the strength to resist her now, not as battered down as he felt, not with his survival instincts steering him into a hard turn away from death, not with his possessive Varcolac male roaring that he needed his strength right now to fight for his woman. And definitely not with Faith's scent making him yearn for her so badly—for blood, sex, love…throw in Parcheesi nights and shopping for antiques online, or whatever. He wanted the whole bonded kit and caboodle.

"Turn around," he barked at his brother.

Shon crab-walked in a circle until he was crouched with his back to the room.

He kept pulling Faith closer. She needed to get on his lap if he was going to take her at the throat. Wrist was another option, but her throat was where he wanted to be…maybe never leave. Her scent would be richer there, her skin softer, the act of feeding on her carotid, by some unspoken natural law, more intimate. He swallowed so loudly, he heard it echo up through his ears.

Faith got the hint and climbed aboard, her sleek dancer's legs straddling his hips, her bare derriere using his balls as a couple of couch cushions.

A moan escaped him on a long breath. "Go down the ramp a ways, Shon." He had no idea how loud he was going to get. Probably fairly loud.

His brother disappeared.

He reached up and grabbed a handful of Faith's sweat-soaked hair at the base of her head and gathered it into a ponytail. Coppery strands slithered off the front of her body, and then—

He smothered another moan. There were her breasts.

Perky, round, and white, like cream puffs topped with lush, red strawberries. They were on the small side, but to him, the perfect size. More than a handful is a waste, he'd heard the saying go, and Faith's offering would fit nicely into his palm. Not his whole hand—that wasn't even fair to ask—but definitely she'd fill his palm. She was packing a lot of curves, actually, more than he'd expected. In clothes, her frame was so slight, he'd worried she'd lean toward preadolescent, even underdeveloped. But, no, this naked body before him was all woman, hips gently flared, thighs shapely, the area between her legs like—

He felt the scorching heat of a blush. In all his years he'd never seen a woman's… femininity before, and the reality of how those curls looked, all silky and coppery, and how close she was to his own…area made his breath wedge deep in his chest.

Lust bit harder. With his hand on her nape, he pulled her to him. She scooted up his body and leaned over him, her nipples almost caressing his bare chest, but not quite. More of her scent atomized into his nostrils, and his loins filled with a heaviness his pelvic bones didn't feel equipped to contain. Need blinded him to all but the pulse at her neck, but somehow he pushed the warning out of his mouth. "The first bite hurts."

She paused. "Worse than an all-day ballet workshop with Vladimir Azarov, world famous Russian choreographer?"

Hunger thundered down his spine, and his hand quaked as he cupped the back of her skull. "That, I don't know."

"I'll be fine," she whispered.

Green light. He angled her head to the side, found her pulse, and broke her skin with his fangs.

She let out a squeak as he clamped onto her artery, his lips latching securely to her flesh. He sucked vigorously. A coarse sound broke from him as blood gushed over his tongue. She's so… Pleasure noises stampeded up his throat and—

And then he was gone. Time and place ceased to exist as he was pulled into a vortex of ecstasy.

I was empty, now I'm full.

I was hurt, now I'm healed.

I was missing, now I'm found.

I was dying, now I'm saved.

He drank and drank, like a man nearly starving his whole life getting his first true taste of unpolluted water. He drank until his fangs wouldn't let him take anymore, then with a huge gasp, he broke the seal.

I was half, now I'm whole.

Faith gazed down at him with hooded, Fiin??-dazed eyes, her body loose-jointed on top of him.

Hot air streamed out of his nostrils. He'd never seen her look more beautiful. Setting her gently aside, he rolled onto his hands and knees, crawled forward, and stuck his face into the pool, drinking deeply. His cells twitched sharply in complaint. His staff was hard as petrified wood, ready to make love to Faith and complete their bond. His body howled for it. But on a dirty cave floor with hundreds of Om R?u still hunting them was no time for that.

When he had his fill of water, he leapt to his feet and stretched to his full height. Wow. In the time it'd taken him to stand upright, the world had acquired a whole new shape; colors were brighter, sensations sharper, scents richer, and his muscles were powering up with Faith's Royal Fey blood. It was like being in a state of R?u, but with none of the bad.

I was weak, now I'm strong.

He bent to pick up Faith. "I'm going to get you out of here, don't worry." He swung her up on his shoulder, Pandra onto the other, then trotted down the ramp to Shon.

"All right, Magellan," he said to his brother. "Lead the way out of this hell pit."

Shon turned his head to peer up at him. "Nice boner."