Her body responded in kind, clenching deep.

“I can smell your sex, your desire, Claire.” His voice came out in a soft purr. “Please come to me, give me release. Your blood has eased the madness, but now I have a new kind of agony.”

Maybe it was because the vampire used his manners; Claire would never be sure. But some kind of meet-your-vampire’s-needs insanity took over her mind. She reached down to the hem of her T-shirt and pulled up and up, stripping slowly. His gaze raked her face, the slope of her neck, then drifted down to her breasts.

She leaned over so he could see her cleavage. His lips parted and his gaze fell to half-mast. She moved closer, leaning over him from the side of the bed.

With her bra still on, she eased her chest down to his lips and watched his tongue emerge. She lowered herself until he could lick the swell of her breasts.

He groaned. Claire. My God. Claire. More.

She reached back and unhooked her bra, tossing it aside. She fed him a nipple. He latched on and suckled. And it felt so good.

Look at me. His voice in her head commanded her.

His eyes had a wild look, but very different this time from his earlier blood-crazed expression. Each tug on her breast brought an answering pull deep between her legs.

Claire couldn’t blame the blood-chain. She needed this, too, and she needed Lucian now.

She slid her hand down to his hip, lower, until she could stroke the crown of his cock. He moaned and suckled her breast harder as she ran her thumb over the wet tip, then slid it lower to caress the ridge, playing with him.

Desire shot through her, demanding more. Claire had never experienced anything so erotic in her life. Not only was her own desire heightened by their chains, but she could also feel what he was feeling. Panting, she pulled back, then slipped out of her jeans, losing her thong at the same time.

He watched her, breathing hard now, deep gulps of air, as his gaze flew over her body.

She leaned over his cock and took him inside her mouth.

His back arched and he groaned so loud that she was sure he would come just like this. She drew back, giving him a moment. When he settled down, she returned, sucking gently, letting him feel the pleasure of what had been denied him during the year of his imprisonment.

Blood and sex.

The touch of a woman.

His most basic needs.

“Enough.” His hoarse voice filled the room.

She didn’t wait for instructions or permission but climbed up on the bed. She swung a leg over his hips and mounted him. He was a big man with a big cock, but Claire was more than ready for him as she glided down on all that enormous, wonderful girth.

She closed her eyes as she seated herself. She heard his breathing, very light gasps, as if he was afraid if he felt too much, he’d spend himself way too soon.

She eased up and savored the length of him, then slowly lowered herself again. She gave herself to enjoying what felt so completely forbidden.

Sex with a vampire, a man who was essentially a stranger to her.

His hips flexed as he pushed himself inside her.

“Do you want me to release your hands? Can you control yourself right now?”

He nodded.

Maybe she shouldn’t have, but she took the risk and released the restraints, freeing his hands. She needed more of him, his hands touching her, fondling her. She wanted all of him and the moment his hands grasped her hips, she planted her fingers on his abs and slowly glided her hands up.

“Claire,” he murmured, his voice hoarse.

She lifted her hips at the same time, feeling the length of his cock once more: pleasure on pleasure.

She moved faster as her fingertips reached his mouth and he groaned, his hips flexing again. His hands dipped low, grabbing her bottom and holding her firmly. He took over, thrusting up into her, increasing the speed.

She leaned down and kissed him, bit him, sucked on his lips until they parted.

She took his tongue in her mouth and suckled him.

He pushed into her harder.

His arms wrapped around her back, pulling her closer. She wanted to be closer. The vein in her neck throbbed and a different kind of need rose. She shifted her face away from him, which put her throat in close proximity to his mouth.

His tongue licked the length of her neck, over the vein.

She groaned as he thrust and as his tongue teased her sensitive skin.

She wanted more of the forbidden. She wanted him to bite her while her hips worked him hard.

Lucian rode the edge of ecstasy as he never had before. The blood-chains and his recent starvation worked together to forge a passion that moved like a roll of thunder through his body.

He drove into Claire, his cock rigid and ready. He could release at any moment, but he needed more from the woman straddling him.

His tongue repeatedly stroked above the vein that carried all that he’d needed desperately for over a year.

His blood-madness was gone, but the cravings he felt were almost as powerful. One thought dominated all others: Even above releasing inside her, he wanted more of what was in her veins.

His fangs descended. Give it to me, Claire. You know you want to.

I do. More than anything in the world.

He licked and she arched into his tongue, pushing against the little flicks he gave her throat.

She moaned as she rode him, her hands on his shoulders.

Come closer.

She arched her neck, creating the right angle. He teased her with the sides of his fangs, up high enough that the sharp tips wouldn’t cut her.

She groaned. Do it. Please. I want you to take your fill, take what you need.

He knew she meant what she said, because the chains vibrated against his neck. He sensed she’d become desperate, just like him, longing for the experience that would bring them even closer together.

Come for me first. Your orgasm will flavor your blood. Come for me.

He sped up his thrusts, anchoring her even harder with his hands, keeping her pinned close to his groin.

She gasped for air now. So close. Damn, I’m so close.

I’m fucking you, Claire. And I’m going to drink from you as soon as you let go. Just let go.

The combination of his words and the feel of his cock deep sent Claire over the edge screaming. He drove faster and harder, wringing pleasure from her body.

He strove to hold on, knowing how much better it would be if he waited. He wanted to come while he drank from her neck. He ran through a couple of algebraic equations in his head just to calm down a little as her satisfied body slowed and she relaxed against his chest. He surrounded her with his arms.

Holding her close, he tried to remember just how long it had been since he’d held a woman like this. Too long—maybe a decade or more prior to his imprisonment. Most of his couplings had been brisk and didn’t involve any kind of intimacy. He didn’t put much stock in love in any form, but after what he’d been through, her body and the soft mounds of her breasts soothed him.

His starvation pressed him forward and he nuzzled her neck. She shifted but kept her throat close. “Will you let me drink from you, Claire?”

“Yes. God yes. I need more right now.”

“More like this?” He stroked her deep with his cock, then withdrew almost all the way out before he plunged back in. He’d been right about her; she was ripe as hell.

“Yes, just like that.” She breathed in gasps, ready for him again.

“I’m going to bite you now.”

She cried out. “Lucian. Yes.”

He cupped the back of her neck, his hips moving in short strokes, the way he would attack her vein. His fangs protruded to their farthest point, his lips easing away from the sharp tips. Saliva pooled in his mouth, ready, so ready.