“Okay. Let’s go.”
Hope spent all day hydrating and lounging in the sun, soaking up as much as she could. It sank into her cells, reviving them in a way she still didn’t understand. By the time dusk fell, she hurried back to the suite she shared with Logan.
She stripped out of her clothes and crawled into the bed next to him. It was still chilly outside, and his living heat curled around her, making her shiver. Even as deeply as he slept, he must have sensed her presence and turned to wrap his arms around her.
Hope stroked his arm, marveling at how his body had changed from the first time she’d met him. He’d been all gaunt angles and sharp bones, starving for sustenance. He’d been heart-stoppingly beautiful, but now he was even more so. Dense planes of muscles stood out under his smooth skin, tempting her fingers to roam over him, memorizing every ridge and hollow.
His breathing was deep and even, but as the sky darkened, he began to stir and waken.
She had to time this just right. If he was too sleepy, he couldn’t respond to her, but if waked fully, he would reject what she wanted. And Hope was determined to have her way in this. Grace’s life depended on it.
She draped herself over his naked body and rubbed herself against him. His cock twitched and hardened, and he let out a low moan of pleasure. She was already wet, having plotted out her seduction all day. A low buzz of arousal suffused her, making her feel weak and powerful all at the same time.
Hope fitted them together and rocked her hips, sliding him into her in slow, clinging thrusts. His breathing sped, and his lovely eyes began to flutter as he woke more.
Any second now, his brain would engage and his need to protect her would kick in. He’d fed from her only two days ago, and she knew he’d resist doing so again so soon for fear of hurting her. No matter how hard she argued with him that she was fine, that all it took for her to recover was a bit of time in the sun and some water, he still refused.
But not tonight. Tonight she was getting her way.
She tugged on his shoulders, urging him to sit up. He moved slowly, lacking his usual grace, but he did as she insisted.
Hope lowered herself onto him fully, loving the feel of him buried as deep as he could go inside of her. She cradled his head, bringing his mouth to her throat. “Drink,” she whispered.
Logan let out a low, animalistic growl, but kept his lips clamped shut.
What if she’d waited too long and he was already awake enough to know what he was doing?
It was hard to think with his erection stretching her, and the press of his body against hers. She’d thought she could keep her head better than this. They’d been together so many times since they’d met. It wasn’t as if this was something new.
“Please,” she said, using her fingers to ease his lips open. “I need it. Bite me.”
The growl deepened, vibrating her chest. A second later, she spun around and landed hard on the bed. Logan’s hips pumped, powering against her with deep, heavy thrusts. His teeth grazed her neck, and then a sharp pain made her gasp.
Logan’s mouth sealed over her skin as he drank, the slight suckling sensation making her head spin. His cock continued moving within her, driving away the ability to think. She let go, giving in to her body’s demands, and started moving in time with him.
Pleasure coiled inside of her, pulling tighter and tighter with each thrust, each suckling pull at her neck. She didn’t even bother to try to stop it. She let go and let her orgasm come, ricocheting inside of her.
The sound of her cries filled the room and Logan’s arms clenched around her as he drove deep. He let out a rough groan and came deep within her, filling her while the last pulsing waves of her own release eased.
Languid and sated, she lay there, enjoying the stroke of his tongue across her skin and the heat of their joined bodies.
“You manipulated me,” said Logan. He’d levered himself up on his arms and was staring down at her with a faint glow emanating from his pale eyes.
“Maybe a little. But I wasn’t lying. I needed you to do it.”
“Why?” His jaw was tense, bulging with anger.
“That woman I told you about? The one who sent me here? I remembered how to make contact with her using the Sentinel Stone, and I’m going to need your help.”
“You didn’t need to trick me to get it.”
“I did, and you know it. All of your efforts have been going into healing those children, ridding them of the poisoned blood flowing in their veins. You’re exhausted all the time. Don’t try to pretend otherwise.”
“I don’t want you to worry,” he said, stroking her hair away from her face. He was still hard inside of her, seemingly in no hurry to disengage their bodies.
He’d be moving away from her if he was truly mad, wouldn’t he? Or maybe he was doing it to distract her. There was no way a woman could think straight in this position. It simply wasn’t possible.
“You said messing with gateways was dangerous. I don’t want either of us too weak to do this, so I spent the day in the sun refueling so that both of us could be strong.”
His eyes scoured her face, looking at her with such love she still couldn’t believe how lucky she was. She’d never expected any man to love her the way Logan did—certainly not one built like a god.
“Let’s do this thing, then,” he said. “And then we’ll come back here where I can make love to you properly.”