Even so, a sliver of fear made its way through Denise's haze of bliss. He'd bitten her. How much more of her blood could Spade drink before it threw him into a frenzy that would lead to him draining her, possibly even to death?
Spade's mouth was stained red as he rubbed it between her br**sts, leaving a faint crimson smear. Then he brought her closer, brushing his lips over hers.
"Kiss me," he ordered in a thick voice.
Denise hesitated, torn between the urge to do just that and her instinctive aversion to tasting her blood on his mouth.
Spade's hand moved from between her legs to pinch her nipple. The blast of heat that followed had her jerking back so hard, her head thunked on the floor. When he did it the second time to her other nipple, she was almost crying from the pleasure.
More. More. Don't care if it kills me, just more.
"Kiss me."
Denise slanted her mouth across Spade's, licking his lips, tasting their coppery tang, and then running her tongue inside to tangle with his. He made a rough noise of need and slid forward, his hips opening her legs wider, free hand yanking down his pants.
The hard stroke inside her was so sudden, deep, and forceful that Denise bit Spade's tongue in uncontrollable reflex. He groaned, thrusting again just as powerfully, sending a shudder of pleasure through her.
"So hot...so good."
His growl in her ear made her shiver with its vehemence. She arched her hips in anticipation of his next thrust - and felt his tongue flicking between her legs instead.
Her eyes flew open in shock that Spade had slid down her body before she'd even noticed. Now her thighs cradled his head instead of his hips, his black hair covering his face as he laved her with firm, impossibly fast strokes.
"I don't know what's more addictive, your blood or your honey here," his rough voice mused before another deep lick had her twisting in ecstasy.
Then a long, hard thrust made her cry out in the next heartbeat, Spade filling her so deeply, she choked back a sob. Another spine-bending stroke, then another, and then -
His mouth captured her below again, tongue lashing her flesh with the same hungry, sweet frenzy. Before she could cry out her passion, his hard flesh replaced his tongue, making her shudder at the powerful thrusts cleaving inside her.
Denise realized Spade had let go of her hands only when she found herself not knowing from one moment to the next if she'd be clutching his head or his hips. He moved in a blink, seamlessly alternating between taking her with his mouth or with those deep, mind-blowing thrusts. Her br**sts throbbed while her loins twisted with the varying sensations bombarding them.
Spade reared up onto his knees, pulling her with him, hands closing over her hips to hold her upright as he began to thrust so fast, so forcefully, that tears spilled out of her eyes. Still, Denise wanted more. She couldn't get enough of the wildness in him, how tightly he held her, or how his moans grew louder and more urgent. Her br**sts bounced against his chest with every fervent, rapid stroke, ni**les flaming from the friction of his shirt on the punctures. She was so close to coming. So close...
Fangs sank into her neck in the next instant. Before she could even be afraid, heat burst within her loins like a bomb going off, rocking her in wave after wave of ecstasy. Those spasms controlled her, made her oblivious to everything but the squeezing, throbbing sensations cascading from her center, filling her body with ripple after ripple of bliss. She didn't know if Spade still drank from her, and she didn't care. If this is dying, Denise thought, I highly recommend it.
Chapter Thirty-two
Don't swallow. Don't swallow.
Spade chanted it in his mind each time he bit Denise, stemming her bleeding from the shallow punctures with a pinch of his fingers. The pressure forced the juice from his fangs deeper into her, increasing the pleasurable heat, until she was unaware of him wiping her blood off his mouth instead of swallowing it.
Even still, his first ingestion when she cut her lip left him feeling drunk, causing him to take her harder than he had previously - and how she responded further shredded his control. He'd never been so aroused by a woman, never lost himself so much as he did when he was inside Denise. She took away his will and replaced it with raging need, turning him from a controlled sexual connoisseur into a feverish greenhorn who could barely hold his seed. Spade climaxed right after she did, with a roar of satisfaction.
He rolled over to lie on his back, Denise half draped across his chest. She was gasping, her beautiful body flushed, fingers almost absently stroking her nipple. Midway through their lovemaking, her hands had changed back, smooth skin and bitten nails replacing those talons and sharp claws.
"Now, tell me about your compromise," he said, knowing he'd agree no matter what it was.
"Give me a minute," Denise replied, still out of breath.
Spade let out a short laugh. "Take your time. I'm not going anywhere." And he wasn't. No matter how it might hurt later.
Her soft, warm hands touched his chest. "What do you - hey! My hands are back to normal. Lucky you; I'd probably have ripped up your back otherwise."
He took one of her hands and kissed it. "It would have been worth it."
She smiled, then her expression became serious. "When you walked out before, it was just because of our life spans being so out of whack once I get these brands off? Not that you have a problem with me being a different species than you?"
He could answer her question, but Spade knew another way to make Denise understand.
"I was in love in the eighteen hundreds. Giselda loved me, too, but she didn't want to become a vampire. I thought with time, she'd change her mind. A year into our relationship, my sire needed me and I had to leave. But when the time drew near for my return, Giselda sent a message that she'd meet me at my home. On her way, she was stranded with her driver. They weren't there long before the deserters came."
Spade paused, that old grief and rage still rippling through him at the memory. Denise curled her hand around his.
"Tell me the rest, Spade."
He pulled her to him, steadied by her nearness. "Giselda ran, trying to lose them in the forest, but they were faster. All five of them beat, raped, and sodomized her. Despite such a brutal assault, Giselda kept her wits about her. She pretended to be dead until she thought they'd gone. Then she dragged herself up and began to walk in the direction of my home. But the former captain came back to retrieve the sword he'd forgotten before in his haste to remove his trousers. He followed the trail of blood in the snow, and when he found Giselda, he cut her throat so deeply, he almost took her head off. Then he threw her body down a ravine. That's where I found her. She was so covered in blood, I didn't even recognize her at first glance."