“A job. Of course. So you had to sign on with a vampire house? No one in this town looking for a perky little barista?”
“Last time I checked, Starbucks wasn’t offering free room and board, unrestricted access to magical tools and research, and the perfect cover for messing around with spells all day.” She closed her eyes and blew out a heavy breath. “Look. Someone I loveverymuch was in danger.Isin danger. I knew I could help my father, but I needed time to figure out the right spells. Without realizing it, Duchanes gave me that—for a few years, anyway.”
“So all that suffering, all that cruelty—”
“Was a small price to pay in exchange for a chance at saving my father’s soul.” At this, she opened her eyes, pinning him in place with her steely gaze. “And I’m sorry you don’t understand that—I’m sorry your father was such a terrible bastard. Truly I am. But mine wasn’t.Isn’t. He’s kind and loving, he’s got a wicked sense of humor, he never stopped looking out for me, and ever since I got to New York, I’ve fuckinglivedfor the day when I can bring him back. When I can leave all this supernatural shit behind and make a life with him outside the prison of hell and the tortures of my so-called family. And I get that you’re pissed at me—I deserve your anger, your threats, whatever punishments you want to throw at me. But as long as I’m still alive, if you think for one second I’m going to let you stand in the way of helping my dad, I swear to every devil in hell, Gabriel Redthorne. I will—”
Gabriel blurred into her space, capturing her in his arms and holding her tight against his chest, making her gasp.
He couldn’t do it any longer. Couldn’t stay away from her, couldn’t hold onto his anger, couldn’t even follow the rational line of his arguments. Every damn one of them led back to her soft mouth. Back to the kiss and every dark, devious promise it held.
“You’llwhat, little moonflower?” he whispered. “Tell me. Tell me all the terrible, menacing things you’ll do to the vampire who dares to cross you.”
She remained silent, panting in his grasp, her heart fluttering like a bird in a cage.
“Nothing to say? Hmm.” Gabriel buried his face in the crook of her neck, inhaling deeply, slowly dragging his mouth up to her ear. “Then allow me to tell you all the terrible, menacing things the vampire is going to do toyou.”
Chapter Five
“I own you,” Gabriel murmured, fangs slicing through his gums as he dragged his mouth back down along her neck. “Everything about you belongs to me. I told you that from the start, did I not?”
“Yes,” Jacinda breathed, her heart still thrumming, the scent of her fear mingling with the scent of her raw, unchecked desire. “You… you did.”
“But all this time, it was you, laying your claim onme. Trapping me in your web of schemes and lies.” He finally gave in to the desperate urge to touch her dress, gathering the fabric in his fist, exposing her knees, her bare thighs, the scrap of lace between them.
His fingers brushed along the top edge of her panties, making her tremble.
“So I’ll ask you, little moonflower, one more time.” He slid his fingers behind the lace, dipping lower, lower still. “Who owns this pussy?”
“You, Gabriel. Only you.”
“Are you certain?”
“I swear it. It’s yours, Gabriel. It’s—oh,fuck…” She trailed off into a sigh as he grazed her clit, then slid two fingers inside her. She was already so wet for him, her flesh hot and slick, everything about her making him weak.
Her pulse pounded beneath the pale skin of her throat, a matching throb of desire echoing in his fangs. Killing her would be easy. Pleasurable. Devastating.
“And my heart?” he asked, one hand tangling in the hair at the base of her neck as he thrust deeper inside, a slow, torturous stroke that left her gasping. “Do I own that as well, or are you still planning to carve it out of my chest?”
Jacinda’s hands tightened around his shoulders, her legs parting to give him more access, her body begging for his touch.
Deeper. Harder. More.
He gave in to her demands, powerless against the siren call of her desire, claiming her flesh with every stroke.
“No,” she panted. “I wasn’t going to go through with it. I… I never could. I… Gabriel, that’s… Don’t stop…”
But he did stop, fingers stilling inside her, relishing in the hot the pulse of her body as he denied her the release she was so close to finding.
“Please,” she whispered. “I need you to touch me.”
“What about whatIneed, little moonflower?” He drew her closer, his mouth just a hair’s breadth from hers, the warmth of her breath stirring him, making his mouth water. He grazed her lips with his fangs, and she shivered, a delicious tremble he felt all the way down between her thighs.
“What… what do you need?” she asked.
Truly, Gabriel needed to make her come. To prove to himself that he still had some semblance of control in a situation that had spun so far out of his grasp, he could barely remember how it’d all begun.
He pulled out of her wet heat, dragging his fingers over her clit, teasing her, bringing her close once more before sliding back inside. Slow. Deep. A game of exquisite torture that left her panting and crazed.
