The panic that had seized me when he’d been thrown off the ledge surged.
Save him. Save him.
“Rin.” I crawled to him and offered my wrist. “You need to feed.”
His fangs started to extend, but with a groan he pulled them back in, clenched his jaw, and squeezed his eyes shut.
“Rin, please.” I pressed my wrist against his lips, praying instinct would kick in. “You have to feed.” The need to save him squeezed in my chest. I could force my magic to connect with him, I’d managed to do it a few times in the past for other vampires even though their undead nature repulsed my power. But vampires were harder to heal than incubi or succubi and it was always better to just give them blood. And without a doubt healing Rin’s wound would drain me to unconsciousness and I still wouldn’t be able to completely heal the injury. “I don’t want to have to find something to cut my wrist. Feed before you pass out.”
“I will,” he gasped as flames flickered from beneath his lashes. “Just give me a second to focus. I don’t want to take too much and make you weak.”
“Just bite me.” His life force was weakening, leaking out of him onto the ground. We were running out of time. “It’s infinitely easier to heal myself from blood loss than it is to heal you.”
His lids snapped open and his gaze captured me. He was filled with such pain — and not just physical pain. He was angry and wary, and, if everything with Deaglan had been a trap, his emotions were justified. Then he grabbed my hand and sank his fangs into my wrist.
The bite hurt, but my pulse still picked up in anticipation.
I’d only been bitten once by a vampire, by him, but I’d never forget the feeling of his sultry magic sliding into me. The sensation had been everything I’d heard about and more, and I now knew why people sought out vampires and begged them to feed on them.
Then he took a strong pull on my vein and that magic rushed into me, hot and needy, racing through my veins and instantly inflaming our bond’s desire into a desperate screaming need.
Oh, God.
A long throaty moan escaped my lips and my breath turned ragged. Moisture pooled between my thighs and my whole body throbbed. I needed a release. Now. I needed to seal our bond. Now.
Rin’s eyes widened with surprise, and I pressed my wrist harder against his mouth. He hadn’t taken nearly enough blood to heal. He couldn’t stop, and if my wrist was against his lips, my mouth couldn’t be.
“Don’t stop.” My gaze leaped to his crotch. I’d have to twist to get my free hand to his lace-up fly but—
No.
No no no.
I wrenched my eyes back to his. “And don’t let me have sex with you,” I begged. “Please.”
I didn’t want to put my complete trust in him, just like he didn’t want to trust me, but I wasn’t going to have a choice. Even if Rin’s sensual magic didn’t get stronger while he fed — and I feared it would — I didn’t know if I’d be able to control myself, not until he’d stopped feeding and his magic wore off.
His expression turned solemn. I didn’t know if that meant he understood just how much trust I was putting into him or not, and with another strong pull, my thoughts scattered and I didn’t care.
My core throbbed and every nerve turned hyper-sensitive. Everything twisted my need tighter: the air rushing in and out of my lungs with each rapid breath, every miniscule movement that brushed his wrap tunic against my skin, the rough stone beneath my bare legs, and his mouth. God, his mouth! The pull on my vein, the feel of his teeth in my flesh, his hand gripping my wrist. This was so much more than when he’d bitten me before. Of course, I’d been weak and had passed out before and I hadn’t been soul-bound to him.
“Rin,” I breathed. Take me, satisfy me, please, God.
I gritted my teeth and squeezed my eyes shut, fighting to stay where I was. I could withstand his magic. I had to. I didn’t know if Faerie’s Heart would be able to break our bond once we’d sealed it, but I was certain it would be easier to break if it wasn’t sealed.
Rin took another long pull, twisting me tighter and sending me spinning.
Far away, in the back of my mind, I knew the spinning was because of blood loss. He was taking a lot, and he needed to. Once his magic healed his chest wound, he’d need more to regain his strength. And he had to regain his strength. He was the one who could fight. It would be better for him to be strong than me.
My healing magic fluttered inside me, and I fought it, too. I didn’t want my body to work against Rin and close the punctures in my wrist. I just needed to hold on. Just a little longer.
Then Rin retracted his fangs, pressed his lips against my skin, and a whisper of the miniscule healing magic that all vampires had closed the wound in my wrist.
My healing magic surged and I released my hold on it. I didn’t want to waste a lot of magic healing myself, but I was out of will power and something had to give.
Except releasing my hold on my magic also released my hold on everything else, and before I fully realized what I was doing, I’d tangled my fingers in Rin’s hair and I smashed my mouth against his.
He groaned and kissed me back with the same desperate ferocity, his lips and tongue tasting of blood, which made his magic inside me swell.
I shifted to straddle him, but he grabbed my wrists and drew back, putting me at arm’s length.
“You don’t want this,” he murmured, his hellfire raging in his eyes, his breath as ragged as mine.
Of course I did—
No.
I didn’t.
God. My need for Rin wasn’t real. It was just fate being cruel and this heightened desperation for a release would pass. I just needed to wait for his magic to dissipate. Which I prayed was soon, because if it didn’t or I didn’t have sex, I was going to lose my mind.
Chapter 8
Amiah
Rin left to explore the cave to see how far back it went — or at least to see if it didn’t stop before he ran out of light. And thankfully with his night vision it meant he could put a good distance between us and give me a much-needed moment to pull myself together.
Which wasn’t easy. My body still burned with my need for him. Thank God he didn’t want our soul bond either, and had managed to maintain some self-control. If he hadn’t, I would have had sex with him on the hard ground while he lay in a pool of his blood.
I sucked in a deep breath that did nothing to ease my aching desire and shoved that thought as far down as I could. I needed to focus and heal myself. I was bleeding from the fight with the ice maid as well as from a cut on my temple when the mouth of the cave had collapsed, not to mention I was low on blood from Rin’s feeding.
I drew in another breath, which didn’t help, and pushed my healing magic into my body. It healed the lacerations first then slid into my circulatory system to help restore the blood Rin had taken.
I was mostly healed and not as weak as I feared I’d be from using my magic when he returned. But I was also still aching with need.
“It widens up ahead,” he said, his soft voice sliding through me, drawing a shiver of desire.
God, even the constant thrum of his hot-cold, alive yet dead life force turned me on.