D. Reynolds - Aden

If asked, he’d have said he didn’t want such a link with anyone . So he couldn’t explain why he pressed her face against his shoulder, while he urged her to bite harder, to drink more. Why his cock stirred anew when she complied, why he joined her as she moaned against his skin, as a final orgasm rolled through them both, leaving her shuddering and limp in his arms.

Aden gathered Sidonie close, holding her tightly as he rolled over and pulled the comforter back on the bed, then slid them both into the warmth beneath the covers.

“You’re staying with me today,” he said fiercely. “No more roaming around the office for you.”

She didn’t even stir, only cuddled deeper into his embrace and went to sleep. He smiled down at her, marveling at the feelings tightening his chest. He didn’t know if it was in his nature to take a mate in the vampire way, to bind someone to him forever. What he felt for Sidonie was love, but forever was a long time. She might grow tired of him, of the life he led. Maybe she wanted children and grandchildren, and he could give her none of those.

But for now, she was his. And he intended to keep her for a very long time.

“Sleep, nuur il-‘en. We have a busy night tomorrow.”

SID WOKE WITH a smile as a muscled arm looped around her waist and pulled her in, sliding her across the sheets and tucking her underneath his heavy body as if she weighed nothing. She opened her eyes to find Aden staring down at her, looking like a man who’d been waiting impatiently for her to wake up.

“Is it nighttime again?” she asked sleepily, reaching up to brush a thick lock of black hair out of his eyes.

“How are you feeling?” he asked instead, his gaze so intent that it made her wonder if she should be feeling worse than she did.

“Um. A little sore?” she ventured. “You’re a big guy and—”

“Not that, Sidonie,” he said, though he couldn’t stop the smug smile that curved his lips.

“Oh!” she said, then frowned, as if just remembering the beating she’d taken at the hands of that creep Carl Pinto, remembering the explosion and fire afterwards. “Surprisingly well, actually.” Her frown deepened as she realized just how good she really did feel. She drew a deep, testing breath, and there wasn’t even a twinge from her ribs. She touched her face cautiously. Her cheekbone had been so swollen that she could see it without a mirror. But it seemed completely healed, not tender and no longer swollen. And she felt rested in a way she hadn’t in weeks, although that could be explained by the rigors of the previous night. She blushed hotly, remembering exactly what some of those rigors had entailed.

Aden caught the blush, of course, and grinned, as if he knew what she was thinking about.

“Can you read my mind?” she asked accusingly.

“Only if I try.”

“Well, don’t.”

“Unless it’s necessary for your safety.”

She pursed her lips, thinking about that one. He laughed and bent his head to kiss her, coaxing her lips with soft caresses, until her mouth opened to him.

When he lifted his head again, she was breathless . . . but still in possession of a brain, so she asked, “How long did I sleep?” thinking that perhaps she’d been unconscious for days, and that’s why her various injuries were healing already.

“Through the day, a little longer. Sunset was an hour ago.”

“But just one day?”

“You’re wondering why your injuries have healed,” he guessed.

She nodded.

“Do you remember biting me?” He nodded his chin at his left shoulder where she could just make out the imprint of a human bite mark. Her bite?

“Oh my God! I’m so sorry!” she said instantly. “I don’t—”

He kissed her again, stopping the flow of words. “Don’t apologize, habibi . It was a good thing.”

“Did it hurt?”

He didn’t answer her directly, saying instead, “My blood healed you.”

She gave him a puzzled look. “Professor Dresner, that bitch,” she added, when his eyes narrowed at the name. “She told me the reason you all were so good-looking—”

“Not all of us.”

Sid rolled her eyes. “The reason so many of you are good-looking is because once you become a vampire, your blood heals everything that was wrong, all the defects.”

“And some of us were born looking this good.”

She laughed and cupped her hand to his chiseled cheek. “And some of you are way more than just good-looking. But,” she continued, “now you’re telling me that the healing abilities of your blood can be extended to anyone who drinks it?”

“That’s our deepest secret. If you tell anyone—”

“I know, you’ll have to kill me.”

“Not I. They’ll have to go through me to get to you. But eventually, the Council would kill us both.”

She blinked up at him. “You’re serious.”

“I’m serious. Although the major concern is that it not become public knowledge, and you are a journalist. That brings you extra scrutiny.”

“Whew! Okay. My lips are sealed. What happens if I bite you again? Do I become a vampire?”

“No, it’s little more complicated than that, and I like you the way you are. But . . .” He grew far too serious all over again. “If you continue to drink my blood, it will bind us together.”

She met his solemn gaze. “Like forever?”

“For as long as we choose to continue,” he amended. “But it will link your life to mine in a very direct way. The longer we’re together, the stronger the link, but even with what we’ve taken from each other already, I could find you almost anywhere. I knew you were at Pinto’s last night, because we got a tip. But once there, I could sense that you were alive and in that house. Now that my blood is inside you, I would no longer need help finding the house. I could track you from anywhere in the city.”

“So, we’re like, going steady?”

He laughed, and she reached up again to touch his cheek. “You should do that more often,” she said.

“Do what?”

“Laugh. It’s a good look on you.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, but, Sidonie, this is serious. The more you drink my blood, the tighter it binds you to me. In the way of Vampire, we will be mated.”

She shrugged. “Okay. I’d rather have a diamond ring, but super healing is good, too.”

ADEN STUDIED Sidonie as she gave him a sweet smile, as if he hadn’t just told her she was chaining herself to him in the most visceral way imaginable. Their bodies would be linked. This wasn’t some romantic human ceremony with promises of love and devotion, this was blood calling to blood. If she stayed with him long enough, their very lives would be bound together. She would remain young as long as she drank his blood, but, by the same token, if he died . . .

Sid pushed against his weight, and he let her roll them over until she was lying on top of him. Propping her hands on his chest, she stretched up and began kissing his face all over, light touches of her lips on his mouth, his cheeks and forehead, his lowered eyelids one at a time.

“I love you, Aden,” she whispered, and his heart clenched as his arms closed around her. But she wasn’t finished. She slid from his embrace, dropping kisses along his jaw and neck, letting him feel the heat between her thighs as she slid downward. She kissed the pads of muscle over his chest, closing her mouth over one flat, male nipple and sucking it to hardness, then locking her teeth over it and biting gently.

His cock flexed hungrily at the feel of her mouth on him, but his gut tightened and he fought the urge to take control, to obey the hard-earned instinct screaming at him to throw her over and fuck her until she begged for release. He liked, he needed , to dominate his lovers.