Page 90 of A Trial By Blood

She jolted at the harshness in my voice, but then she shook her head, her hand lifting to the side of my face. “I’m not afraid of you, Ronan, I never could be…I’ve just, I’ve never seen you like this.”

“I look like a monster—”

“No. You’re beautiful,” she whispered, lifting more of those goose bumps I’d grown to like so much. “I love you, Ronan, and I want you, in any form that you take.”

At her words, I snapped, the barely there thread holding me back uncoiled. With a growl that echoed through the warehouse, I gripped her chin, turned her head to the side, and buried my fangs in her throat.

Her blood bloomed, filling my mouth, and at the first taste, I snarled. My cock surged, my nerve endings lighting up like fireworks. Rose cried out, shoving her fingers into my hair, holding me to her. She rocked her hips frantically, rubbing her pussy against my stiff cock. The scent of her arousal filled the space around us, then she orgasmed, crying out, and every pull on her vein seemed to send her higher.

I’d barely fed and already I felt nourished, more sated than I had been in my life. Rose was what I’d been missing, what I’d craved all this time. I never knew it was possible to feel this way. Luna was right, there was no chance of me hurting her because she was everything. I would die before I ever hurt her.

I lapped at the puncture wounds in her throat, and she jolted with each lick. “Rose,” her name fell from my lips as I kissed my way to her mouth.

She whimpered as I sucked and licked her lips, sharing the taste of her blood. Trembling, she kissed me back just as hungrily, her tongue lapping into my mouth as desperate for me as I was for her.

“I want to take your clothes off, Rose. I need to taste all of you.” I tried to sound more controlled, but the words came out as monstrous as the rest.

“Yes,” she said. “Do it.”

The words barely had a chance to leave her lips when I yanked at her clothes, tearing them from her body. I hadn’t meant to, but my desperation for her was making me clumsy. I would have apologized, but Rose was now naked beside me and there were no words. I couldn’t form them, except to say, “So beautiful,” over and over again. Shaking, I covered one of her breasts and squeezed gently, rubbing my thumb over her nipple. She whimpered, and I leaned in and sunk my fangs into the soft mound, her blood filling my mouth once more.

“Oh god.” She arched, her thighs squeezing tight, then falling wide.

I licked at her blood, smeared over her pale skin, sucking her nipple into my mouth and drinking more of her down at the same time. Then I reached down and covered her right over her hot, slick pussy. A growl was ripped from me. Mine. Every part of her was mine. I lapped at the fresh puncture wound I’d made, sealing it as well, and carried on down her body.

Her scent had been driving me crazy. Every time I smelled her arousal, my mouth watered. Her inner thighs were coated in her juices, and I parted her delicate folds. Her need for me was unmistakable, and the knowledge that it was me who made her this way filled me with possessiveness, with pride.

It wasn’t just my bite that made her this way. Rose had wanted me, had grown wet and needy for me without my fangs in her flesh. I glanced up at her, and her beautiful blue eyes watched me, heavy-lidded with need. I wanted to make her feel good more than anything else on this Earth. I leaned in and lapped at her opening and groaned. Yes. More.

Holding her legs wide, I dragged my tongue through her center, and my world turned red. The predator wanted to mate, to fuck, to make his female scream. I licked and sucked, hoping I was doing this right, that she loved it as much as I did, but I couldn’t stop to check.

When her fingers fisted my hair and she lifted her hips on a cry, a hunger deeper, more urgent, filled me. My cock was hot and impossibly hard, pulsing and aching. The urge to thrust, to rut, was a primal need inside me. Rose fisted my hair tighter and led my mouth higher. I sucked and licked the little nub there, giving her what she wanted.

Rose came again, crying out, her slight body trembling so hard I wanted to soothe her and make her scream again at the same time.

I rose above her, and she looked up at me. “I want you. Please.”

“I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing, petal, but I can’t stop.”

“I don’t want you to stop.” She yanked my shirt from the waistband of my trousers and frantically unbuttoned it.

She shoved my shirt off my shoulders, and my stomach tightened when her hands spread over my chest, then lower over my abdominal muscles. The need in her eyes increased. She liked the way my body looked. I’d never cared about it before, the way I looked. I kept fit because that was part of the way I was made. But vampires were designed to entice. They were predators, naturally in peak physical condition. I’d never thought about it much before, except the times I’d been required to fight.

But seeing the way Rose looked at me now, her fangs pressed into her lower lip as she explored my upper body with her hands, made me appreciate the way I was made. It filled me with pleasure that she enjoyed touching me and looking at me like this.

Her hands lowered, tugging on the button of my trousers—

I sucked in a startled breath, and my hand automatically dropped to hers, covering them, stopping her before I knew I was going to do it. The only other person to tug at the button of my pants like that slammed into my head and cold dread shot down my spine. My cock softened instantly and the ever-present feeling of nausea I’d felt when I was with Azel rushed back.

“Ronan?” Rose’s voice was soft, god, timid.

I hated what I saw in her eyes. “I’m okay.” But despite having Rose right there, so painfully beautiful and perfect, I wasn’t. I wasn’t okay. I’d let Azel in here, into this bed, and he’d destroyed something beautiful. I’d let him destroy it.

She shook her head. “You’re not.”

I looked away, shame filling me. “I’m sorry.” There was a rustle of Rose covering herself.

“Come here,” she whispered.