Wicked Road to Hel (League of Guardians 1)

“Take from me, now,” she commanded.

Declan groaned against her skin. His beautiful dark eyes stared up at her. She saw confusion and lowered her mouth to his. She swept her lips across him, tasted her own blood, and whispered, “Please.”

He murmured something that was unintelligible, his fingers tightened upon her wrist, and then he latched on.

In all of her three hundred years, Ana had never let anyone feed from her. Never. She was unprepared for the assault of emotion, of want and need that pounded through her.

She hissed loudly as he pulled from her; each suckle was exquisite, pain-filled ecstasy. She couldn’t take her eyes from Declan as he continued to feed and forge a connection. Time stilled. She didn’t want the sensations to end. The feeling. The need. The desire.

Her chest was heaving and she leaned closer. “Take more.”

Their eyes held and as he continued to feed, her body became languid. Slowly she slid alongside him, her arm held tight to his mouth.

She felt his warmth, the steady beat of his heart as she laid her head against his chest. There was a rightness in what she’d done and how she felt. It filled her with a glow that was not sexual, but one of completion, or rather, near completion.

She closed her eyes and smiled at the ironic thought.

She was in Hell. In the space of less than an hour she’d fed from Declan and let him take her blood. He would live; however, his fate was cloudy. If he survived the change he would be vampire. He would live and yet . . .

Ana was royalty. A direct descendant of the queen. Would Isobel accept what she’d done and forgive her? Would she let Declan live if Ana promised not to complete the bonding ritual?

She groaned, confused and fearful. Now that she’d tasted him, let him drink from her, she couldn’t envision a future without Declan by her side. And yet how could she be with him unless they were bonded to each other?

Ana was not that strong. This she knew.

The queen might show leniency for his turning, if Ana begged forgiveness, but she’d never allow one of royalty to bond with someone not of their race. Declan could never belong to her in the way that was forbidden.

Ana had broken every single rule that her people held sacred. If the queen ordered his death, she’d never survive it.

Carefully she pulled her arm away and slid into Declan’s embrace. She had no clue what the next few hours would bring. She only knew that at this moment, in this place, peace was the man beside her.

She rested her head into the crook of his neck and closed her eyes. Her mind slowed and eventually she drifted into sleep.

Fire ran through his veins, lapping at his insides and tingling along his nerves.

What the hell?

Declan’s eyes flew open. He was immediately assaulted with a host of sensations, smells, and sound. The soft body pressed against his chest was a welcome weight, the feel of her so right. He shifted, held her like a breakable, and the glow left him as his thoughts darkened.

Ana. Here with him. In fucking Hell.

Was she crazy? His mind ran through images in quick succession. Club Doom. Ana. Blood. Pain.

He swallowed thickly, his tongue aflame with the taste of a metallic substance. It was blood—Ana’s blood. His power coiled hard in his gut and he felt something new inside him. An added strength.

He hissed sharply. Ana’s scent was all over him, her taste was in him. It was intoxicating, vibrant, alluring. He closed his eyes and fought the overwhelming emotion that pummeled him.

Was he vampire? Had they really done the deed? Shouldn’t he be sick? Or deranged? He’d wanted her to take his blood, to have a connection to him that she’d never had with another.

But this was something else entirely. He’d never thought of taking from her. Of becoming like her . . . a vampire.

Declan shifted once more, his gaze wandering the room they’d escaped to. Outside, the wind continued to howl as a storm rolled across District One. Long tendrils of fog slithered across the window.

He couldn’t see shit.

The children were out there. He groaned and relaxed into the mattress. He was having trouble focusing.

Christ, he thought he had it bad before, but now? Now that he’d tasted her, now that she’d taken from him, the feelings and emotions were much more intense.