Now I was wide awake.
And something strong and terrifying and delicious tugged on the very center of me. An insatiable hunger, pulsing and screaming and gnawing on the insides of my soul.
Alek.
God, he was starving. Stubborn asshole. It had been over a week since he’d fed from me.
I hurried out of the bed, slipping on a silver silk robe and cinching it around my waist. Avi had not only loaned me half of her wardrobe, she’d sent out for a massive amount of things in my size. Enough to fill three of my closets back home. I had grumbled at first, but seeing as how I didn’t want to traipse around the estate in my shorts and tank combo, I was currently grateful for the robe.
I hesitated for only a breath outside of Alek’s door, glancing around the corridor for any of his guards. Eyeing the security pad—the same as the war room—I assumed he had no guards because of the secureness of his chambers. I placed a trembling palm against the pad, sighing as I heard the lock to his door unlatch.
I padded barefoot into the room, my eyes adjusting quickly in the shift from the light outside in the hallway to the darkness of his chamber. The scent of him filled every inch of the room, and my soul uncoiled at the sight of him sprawled across his bed.
A black silk sheet covered his lower half, exposing the sharp muscles in his back and one large muscular thigh. Face down, only his profile was visible, but he was just as devastatingly handsome in sleep. Softer, somehow, not as menacing, but still powerful.
I reached out a fingertip, unable to resist the urge to run it down the ridge of his back—
A low growl broke the silence in the room. One second I stood at the side of his bed, the next my spine hit the mattress in a whirl of movement that sent my head spinning.
Alek’s fingers were firm around my throat, his muscular body covering every inch of my own, those eyes glowing and fierce and hungry.
I smoothed my fingers over the wrist at my throat, my eyes flared wide as I searched his, as I waited for recognition to hit him.
One heartbeat.
Then two.
“Lyric?” His voice was like gravel as he tilted his head.
I nodded, my heart thumping against my chest, my body arching into his. Despite his hold, despite the power coiling around his body, I knew he wouldn’t hurt me. Knew it like I knew how to breathe.
“Lyric,” he sighed my name this time, drawing his hand back but not shifting off of me. “What are you doing here?”
“You need me,” I said, my voice a whisper as I smoothed my fingers over the muscles in his arms, down his back, and up again. He shivered under my touch. “I’m here.”
“Lyric, I could hurt you—”
“Stop,” I demanded, shaking my head. I arched beneath him, feeling his desire for me through the flimsy silk of the robe. “Stop staying away from me. Stop saying you’ll hurt me. I know you won’t. And I can’t stand the fact that you’re in pain. It stings every inch of me. Please,” I said, hooking my leg over his hip.
Alek hissed, his fangs descending in a blink. I reached up with my free hand, rubbing the tip of my finger over one. So sharp, strong. He closed his eyes, arching his head back as he pressed his hips between my legs.
“What in all of Hell are you wearing?” he growled, opening his eyes to scan the length of me. I smiled up at him, at the way his body relaxed against my touch. He shifted all his weight to one arm, freeing his hand to explore. With a few strokes, he’d untied the robe, allowing it to fall open to reveal my silk shorts and tank top. “Goddamnit, Lyric,” he groaned.
“What?” I asked, breathless as he touched me with the lightest of pressures.
“You look like dessert,” he said.
“As long as I’m your dessert—”
“Mine,” he cut me off, pressing harder against me. I gasped, rolling my hips, needing more of that pressure.
“Yours,” I sighed, my head whirling, my heart racing.
The word unleashed something in him because one second he held so still I wanted to scream at him and the next? He crushed his lips on mine, parting my lips with his tongue. He tasted dark and sweet and hot, and I moaned at the feel of his tongue on mine. Careful of the fangs, I flicked my tongue along the edges of his teeth, teasing him just as he teased me. He snaked one arm beneath my back, hefting me upward, situating his hard cock against my center. I could feel the heat of him through the shorts, and I hated the thin fabric barrier between us.