She retreated, shocked. Her vampire warrior was in a state of full arousal, his mind a tornado of need and desire. He had told her something had hold of him, breh-hedden. Evidently. He gave off heat in waves.

I need you, he sent, his deep voice saturating her mind, like water soaking into thirsty ground. I want you, to be inside you, to have your blood in me.

She rasped a heavy breath. My blood in you?

I won’t hurt you.

He wanted to take her vein. I know you won’t. I can see into your soul, vampire. You have a golden heart.

The words once conveyed to his mind seemed so inadequate to express what she had seen in him: his dedication to Second Earth, his perfect submission to Endelle, his love for his warrior brothers, his desire to do the right thing, always, his desperate guilt.

How could she resist a man she could admire like this?

He sighed and kissed her neck. “I love that you were inside my head, but I can’t believe you pushed past my shields and I didn’t even know it! Damn, what power.”

“You couldn’t tell I was there?”

“No, which means you must have abilities like Endelle. She can do that, too.”

“And you don’t mind?”

“Truth? I loved it.”

She drew in another deep breath, and his cardamom male scent flooded her nostrils. Desire, pure and simple, drifted over her body like a warm breeze. Beautiful, exquisite pheromones. She would have fallen backward if she hadn’t already been stretched out on the couch.

Are you feeling better? he asked.

Much.

He rested on his knees beside the sofa and must have been bent at an awkward angle over her, but he wasn’t complaining.

He dragged his fangs over her neck. The sensation caused her heart to skip a beat and her body to clench … hard.

Alison?

She heard the question beneath her whispered name. Was she really going to do this? To allow such an invasion? Such a release of herself into him?

He lifted up and looked at her. Lavender, he whispered over her mind.

The sight of him did her in, beautiful, fully masculine, incredible green eyes, thick black hair now framing his god-like face.

Desire flowed through her like a river. She wanted to throw herself into the current and swim.

He nodded as though understanding.

He bent down to again nuzzle her neck.

She moaned at the new set of chills whipping over her body. She touched his hair and pulled the coarse strands through her fingers.

He growled against her neck. More shivers. Her fingers wound through his hair.

Be strong for me, he whispered in vaporous trails that condensed in her mind. He shifted slightly and kissed her neck. She rolled her head to allow more room. He groaned heavily and moved in closer. He pulled her hips toward him then slid her head away from the back of the sofa to give him even more access.

His tongue flattened and rasped up the side of her neck as though drawing forward what he wanted. Again and again he licked. Her pulse throbbed. The duller sides of his fangs scraped the skin above her vein. She had touched one of them when he’d been unconscious on the hood of her car. The sharp tip had drawn blood. How little it would take to puncture her throat.

Was she really going to do this thing? Allow this penetration?

He nuzzled, kissed, licked.

An ache formed deep within. Desire gripped her and again she clenched internally. She moaned. What had he said about the sharing of blood? An act of reverence.

Reverence? she sent.

Yes. God, yes.

He slid his hand over her stomach, pushed aside her sweater, then lifted her T-shirt. The callused pads of his warrior fingers drifted over her ribs, creating sliding jolts of pleasure. He found the waistband of her jeans, unhooked the button, and unzipped. He slid his palm lower beneath the fabric and rubbed in circles, moving deeper with each pass, digging his fingers into her flesh. Her hips rose and fell in response.

He scraped her neck again. I tasted the blood on your finger. I want more. I need more. More of you. Will you give me what I desire?

She wanted to. Was this what he meant when he said the woman had to be willing? She was so absurdly willing.

Do you have me in thrall?

No, but I can put you there if you want.

No, she whispered through the rugged contours of his mind. I want everything just like this, awake and aware.

She arched her neck.

He growled heavily. As he rose up, he slid his hand the rest of the way down her pants and cupped her. He pivoted his shoulders and overlaid his fangs above her vein. You must give me permission.

Alison had a thousand reasons to say no. She didn’t even know this man—vampire—whatever. He admitted he was caught in something even he didn’t think was such a good idea, bonding of some kind. And hey, it was her blood, her blood she’d be giving up. Truth? She ached with need from her head to her toes. She was in a process of ascension, which still confused her and freaked her out and he was asking for blood and oh, damn, she was so going to give it up for him.

Take me now, her mind whispered.

He emitted the most erotic sound, something between a gasp and a growl. He sank the razor-sharp tips, a quick sting then just the presence of his fangs. The next moment he sucked long and hard from her vein.

At the same time, his fingers worked her delicate folds. Desire rushed over her in lightning flashes. She gasped and moaned. It would take so little. The pulls on her neck were connected to the well of her body and each time his mouth suckled, she clenched internally, over and over. The lightning strikes continued, pulsing down her sensitive flesh, streaking into her core. The clenching became exquisitely unbearable. She should warn him how close she was, that she might … oh, God … she came so suddenly she cried out. Pleasure climaxed like nothing ever before. At the same time, power rolled from her, a burst of energy that struck him before she could give the warning. She felt his body react as if he’d taken a hit, although the only sound he made as he continued pulling at her neck was a deep satisfied groan.

Are you okay? she sent.

More than okay. That was amazing. Do it again.

I didn’t hurt you?

Not even a little bit, he sent, his fangs still deep, the pulls on her neck gentler now as he conversed telepathically. The blast felt like an erotic punch to my chest. More. I want more.

You don’t know how relieved I am. Her eyes burned suddenly and unexpected tears slid down the sides of her face.

She hadn’t hurt him and he wanted more of what she could give.

Relief merged with pleasure, heightening every sensation. More growls rumbled in his throat. He pushed his large hand deeper, taking her jeans to their limit as he pressed two fingers inside.

She whimpered as he rhythmically worked her core and at the same time took from her vein.

I have so much more to give you, Alison. I want you to have everything, my mouth sucking your beautiful breasts, my cock inside you pumping hard, working your body, driving your passion. I want to feast on your sex, taste your honey.

His words forged a new fire. His driving fingers stoked the flames. Her cries rose to the ceiling. That’s it, his voice murmured inside her head. She was breathing hard. Her core clenched around his driving fingers. Lightning slid over her flesh again and she screamed yet another orgasm. And another. Each time her power pummeled him, but he merely growled as though deeply satisfied.

Tears once more trailed from her eyes as her body quieted.

After a few minutes, he withdrew his fangs. He remained settled against her neck, his lips kissing in tender swipes, his fingers still possessing her core.

Will my neck bleed? she sent.

Not at all. When I withdrew, chemicals left the tips of each fang and gave you a quick seal-and-heal.

She took deep breaths, settling into the reality of what had just happened as well as how happy she was. She could get used to this, to being with him.

Even so, her heart tensed. After all, what did she really know of him? She had an overwhelming desire to stay with him forever, but how sensible or even possible or likely would that be? By his own admission, he said he could never really be with her, not in any permanent sense.

Oh, God, what did she risk by drawing this close, by allowing her blood into his body, by giving herself to him?

She was in so much trouble.

Her hands were still buried in his thick hair, a couple of her fingers knotted up completely. She started untangling them. When she was free, Kerrick slowly withdrew his fingers from the well of her body then looked at her. She dropped her gaze to his lips. “You have blood on your mouth and you look really pumped, stronger.”

He nodded. He appeared sated as he carefully wiped his mouth with the fingers that had been inside her. Green eyes bored into hers as he sucked his fingers clean of every last bit of her. Lavender, he sent.

Her entire body became a pool that just kept sinking deeper and deeper into the couch. She didn’t want to get up … ever. She wanted to stay here and watch this man, this vampire, lick his fingers, his green eyes dark with passion and need, his strength enhanced by her blood.

He leaned over her and planted a hand between the sofa back and her side. His dark hair fell forward onto her face, her neck, her chest. Even his hair smelled of exotic cardamom. His fangs lengthened. Arousal, maybe? Probably.

A new wave of heat rolled from his body and blasted her. She lifted a finger and touched his left fang. So smooth. Her finger strayed to his lower lip and as he had done while unconscious he drew her finger into his mouth. He closed his eyes and moaned. She had the most profound sensation that she could never tire of this man, this vampire, not in a hundred million years.

He released her finger, leaned down and kissed her, the weight of his fangs pressed against her lips, his tongue dipping inside. She suckled and he groaned. She was so into this. If this was ascension, give her more, a lot more.

He started pushing down her pants around her hips. He had just managed to free one cheek when a really bad sensation stole up her spine like a spider with claws. She planted a hand on his thick shoulder. “Kerrick,” she called sharply. “Something’s not right.”

“No,” he said, his voice husky. “This is right. This is very right.”