The Bite That Binds (Deep In Your Veins 2)

Antonio exhaled heavily. “It is a relief to know that the operation has been put to a halt, but I still have to locate the couples who purchased the human babies who were taken from their mothers.”

I doubted that that would be an easy feat. “I take it you’re sending Sebastian?”

Antonio nodded. “Once he returns from finding the brothers, I will do so. I have sent out a message to all vampirekind that if these couples give themselves up to me, they will not be punished with death. If they do not do this, however, they will be executed once Sebastian has hunted them down – and he will hunt them down. That is something that I am certain about.”

“What are you going to do with the babies once you have them?” asked Jared.

“The only thing I can do: I plan to hand them over to human authorities. Of course it is not possible to return them to their mothers, but they still have fathers and other relatives. It is up to the humans to return the children to the right families − that is something I have no control over.”

“Poor Jude,” I said quietly, looking at the woman in question, who was at the other side of the infirmary. She hadn’t spoken a word since we got back. “Every single cell of her must want her daughter back even though she understands it can’t happen.”

“Yes, it has to be heart-breaking.” Antonio sighed.

“Do you think she might stay, if we asked her?”

“If that is your way of requesting for a place to be made for her here, then yes.”

Nodding my thanks at him, I walked over to where she sat beside Chico’s bed. I’d noticed that they spent a little time together, but there was nothing going on between them as far as I knew. “Hi.”

She smiled at me, but it wasn’t a full smile. “Hi.”

“How do you feel?”

She blew out a breath. “Tired. Tired in too many ways to count. You know, I didn’t expect that I’d feel better afterwards, so it’s no surprise that I don’t. But I guess I’m…relieved. I feel like I got vengeance for Holly, for the life she should have had.”

“For the life you both should have had,” I corrected.

“It’s weird. Now that it’s over, I don’t know what to do. For so long, I’ve been running on a need for vengeance. Now that I have it, I feel…”

Seeing that she was struggling for words, I offered, “without purpose.” She nodded. “You could stay. You could make a place for yourself here.”

She glanced fleetingly at Chico. “Thanks. Maybe.”

I doubted that she truly would stay. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Jude spent her life watching over her daughter, looking out for her from a distance. That was what I’d have done in her position.

Feeling that Jared was behind me, I turned to him.

“Ready to go?” At my nod, he took my hand in his and teleported us to the living area of our apartment. There, he pulled me to him, fitting me against him. Trapping my gaze with his, he slid both hands into my hair. “You’re okay.”

And that was no little thing, given just how powerful those vampires had been tonight. “Yes.”

“If you had been one of the people lying on an infirmary bed, I really don’t think I could have taken it.” Of course he couldn’t have taken it. He’d been pushed to his limits so many times already this week.

“But I’m not. I’m fine. And I’m here. With you.”

Then he was on me. Mouths fused together, tongues tangling, teeth biting, we stumbled through the apartment − stripping as we went. We had only gotten as far as the kitchen when Jared ended the kiss. “I can’t wait. I need this.” With an impatient growl, he tore the only remaining clothes from my body − my jeans and panties − and slammed me against the kitchen cupboards. Just as impatient, I ripped open the fly of his jeans. His c**k was hot and throbbing in my hand as I pumped fast.

He rested his forehead against mine. “Harder.”

When I gave him what he wanted, he groaned loudly. But it wasn’t long before he tried pulling my hand away. I resisted.

“I want inside you,” he growled, again tugging at my hand. This time, I let him go. Then with our mouths again meshed together, he slid his hands to the back of my thighs, lifted me, and placed me on the countertop. When his probing fingers discovered that I was wet and ready, a growl of approval rumbled its way up his chest. “Just how I like it.” Angling my hips just right, he slammed home, and my muscles rippled around him. “Christ, Sam.”

He held himself still, giving me a minute to adjust to him, but I didn’t want that minute. I scratched at his back. “Move, move, move.”

He did. There was no teasing this time. His fingertips bit into my skin as he gripped my hips tightly, possessively, and punched his c**k in and out of me. All the while, he groaned into the crook of my neck, whispering about how good I felt, about how amazing I was to him, about how much he needed to feel me come apart around him.

He wouldn’t have to wait long for that, because the tension was quickly building inside me, burning me hotter and hotter, and sending me closer and closer to finding my release. But I didn’t want to find it yet, didn’t want it to end so soon.

Obviously sensing that I was fighting it, Jared sucked on my earlobe and began circling my clit with his thumb. “Let go.”

I shook my head, trying to pull his hand away from my clit. The sod wouldn’t let me. “I don’t want to come yet. Please.”

Ignoring me, he continued toying with my clit. “Give me what I need, baby. Come all over me.”

I might have continued to fight it, but then his teeth sank deep into my neck, sending me hurtling over the edge and screaming. He didn’t pull back after a few swallows the way he usually would. Instead, he kept on drinking, drawing out my orgasm. Only once I slumped against him, totally satiated, did he − with one final hard thrust − come deep inside me.

I wasn’t sure how long we stayed locked like that, as I was pretty much drifting to sleep when he spoke.

“I love you, baby.”

I smiled lazily against his shoulder. The fact that he didn’t say it often only made it all that more fulfilling to hear. “And I love you,” I more or less slurred.

“As much as I want to kill the brothers for what they’ve done to you, I was glad of it tonight. Glad you had that extra strength and power. They said that, didn’t they? They said that what they’ve done would be something I’d one day appreciate. They were right.”