Angel Series Books 1-3 Boxed Set

The Lust

The Lust

I let the last of the daggers drop to the floor. It made no sound as it hit the carpet.

Drake stood in front of me, our bodies almost touching. He unzipped the front of the catsuit to my waist, exposing the black lacy bra underneath. His cold hand slid around my waist and pulled me nearer. He kissed the top of each breast and I shook my arms as if to shake off the catsuit and it disappeared, leaving me in the black bra and a G-string.

Drake’s hands tore at the delicate fabric of the G-string and his teeth bit through the bra, nicking my skin in the process. His tongue licked the small cut until it healed and, in the desperation my blood had fuelled in him, he pushed me to the floor, ripping off the remaining shreds of the bra and kissing me on the lips. I just knew we weren’t destined to make it to the bed.

I ripped his t-shirt away and let my fingertips explore his muscles, in my own primal response to his needs and desires, eliciting a shiver from him.

“I can’t believe how warm-blooded — how hot — you are,” he murmured, nibbling my ear.

I couldn’t reach the front of his jeans. There was no room for me to squeeze my hands between us, yet they were no obstacle to me and in a moment his remaining clothing was gone.

At some point Drake regained control of himself — he was a wild and passionate lover, very unrestrained — and grabbed my wrist. He looked into my eyes as he lowered his mouth to touch my wrist and bit down. I gasped and he moaned, all the while his eyes locked onto mine.

He offered his wrist to me and I took it, drinking greedily, his blood even sweeter than that of the first vampire I’d taken since the specialists had attacked me. It was what I imagined ambrosia would have tasted like to the Roman and Greek Gods.

Drake’s eyes widened and he lifted his lips from my wrist, licking the blood that continued to flow. It made me shiver all the more.

“Slow down,” he murmured.

I shook my head. I couldn’t stop it now. I needed it. It took all of my willpower and concentration to break free.

“Drink faster,” I gasped and clasped his wrist to my mouth again.

He lifted my wrist to his lips and smiled, a gleam of satisfaction in his eyes. Here I was, someone who could surpass even him. Someone with the same base appetites. His mouth covered my wrist and I felt his teeth pierce the skin as he bit down and drank eagerly. He held my gaze all the while, and I felt something pass between us, subconsciously.

He was right. I did have more control over my body than I’d thought. I wasn’t going to kill him.

Time meant nothing and for all I knew days had passed since we’d entered Drake’s chambers. The only thing that mattered was this drive — a frenzied s****l energy — that wouldn’t stop. I felt like it would never be completely satiated, though it was, time and time again. Each ending saw a new beginning — an insistent, pulsing throb in my loins that could not be ignored for long.

Drake matched my stamina and newly-acquired lust for blood. I wondered how long he could go without feeding, how much longer I could go. It was as if by drinking from each other we were bypassing the need to feed from another source, which wasn’t a bad thing as far as I was concerned. If all vampires could learn to do this they wouldn’t need to feed on mortals at all.

Drake was lying on his back and I sat astride his hips. When we were ready to share our blood he sat up and I wrapped my legs around him. The initial coldness made my muscles contract, heightening our pleasure even further.

It took quite some time to adjust to the coldness of Drake’s body against mine. It wasn’t like it had been with Danny at all. The room was not bathed in soft coloured light, we didn’t share our love and emotions through touch — sharing a bond — and we certainly didn’t levitate, but it was pleasurable nonetheless in a raw and primitive way. Part of me still missed the heat of the passion Danny and I had shared — the act and release. Drake made an acceptable substitute, providing a different kind of intensity, but it would never be love, only lust.

When I actually took the time to look closely at his body, and explore it thoroughly, I found he had numerous scars that he told me were souvenirs of various battles over thousands of years — each one a reminder of how lucky he’d been to make it out alive. The scars excited me even more — the thought of the violence they represented. He knew why my tongue licked each and every scar. He knew me better than I did.

“You’re a creature of habit, Helena,” he sighed, the hint of a moan of pleasure behind his words. “You always return to what you know — s*x and violence.”

I licked a scar on his chest, close to his n****e. “I suppose Shae told you that.”

He put his hands behind his head, enjoying the moment. “No, it’s written in your body language.”

I smacked his chest with the flat of my palm, leaving a red mark.

“Huh! Figures! A vampire who’s into the art of interpreting body language. It’s not entirely true, though — I’ve known love.”

He grabbed my upper arms and rolled me onto my back in an act of dominance. “But when love is gone s*x and violence always remain.”

“Aren’t vampires capable of love?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said hesitantly, “though it never ends well.”

“What do you mean?”

“Forget it,” Drake said, a hint of bitterness in his voice. “Forget I ever mentioned it.”

He let go of my arms and rolled off the bed, landing on his feet. My curiosity may have been piqued, but I had a feeling that by pushing the matter I would drive him away. I needed what he could offer me, to help fill the void. I doubted any other vampire here would be able to match him.

“I have something I’d like to show you,” he said, all trace of any bitterness gone.

He walked over to the Renoir that covered his safe, removed it and rested it gently on the floor, leaning against the wall. He opened the safe, rifled through some papers, tucking a few under his arm, closed the safe and returned to the bed. He sat on the edge and I crawled over to where he was, lying on my stomach, my chin on my hands.

Drake held up some sketches. They weren’t on paper. Rather it was some sort of cured animal hide. At first I thought they were pictures of vampire porn, but as I looked closer I realised they were the vampire equivalent of the Kama Sutra, positions designed to allow s*x, and the sharing of blood, to be performed at the same time. The sketches were quite old and I wondered if the male vampire was Drake. There were certain similarities.

“It’s not me, if that’s what you’re thinking,” he said. “They’re older even than I. Sadly I’ve never found one whom I thought could master these, but you, it seems you are the master and I am the student. Perhaps together …”

Some of the positions required a great degree of flexibility and dexterity by both parties, and I was glad I was limber enough to consider attempting them. I only hoped Drake could match my flexibility, as he had my stamina and blood lust.

I let my fingertips tickle his spine. “Where do you want to start?”

He pulled one out of the pile and pointed to it. “This one I think.”

I studied the sketch for a moment and sat up. Drake climbed back on the bed to meet me and the sketch fell to the floor, where it was hard to see.

“That’s going to be a bit of a nuisance,” I said.

I leaned over Drake to look at the sketch and used my hand to pull up a three dimensional image, placing it at the end of the bed, about a metre in the air. It slowly rotated so we could see what limbs were being placed where, and when we were in position I let the image drop to the ground. It seemed awkward at first, but once our rhythm was in sync it exceeded my expectations. My whole body was alive and tingling with an almost orgasmic feeling. Every fibre of my being was ignited with such pleasure that I thought I would transcend this plane of existence at any moment.

We were interrupted by a strange sound I’d not heard before. We managed to ignore it until dirt from the compacted ceiling began to rain down around us. The canopy of the bed was made from a strong, sturdy material, and it protected us from the shower of debris, allowing us to continue in our pursuit of pleasure. It seemed hours before we were finally finished, lying back on the bed, marvelling at how two vampires had actually worked out that position in the first place, and stayed still long enough for someone to sketch it.

“Remarkable,” Drake said, leaning in to kiss me again.

I rolled my eyes and smiled. “Which one now?”

Before Drake could answer someone started pounding on the door.

“Drake, are you all right? There’s been a cave-in!”

The pounding continued and Drake snarled, angry at the interruption.

“Leave me!” he yelled, then grinned wickedly at me. “I’m otherwise engaged.”

I laughed. “Would you like me to fix it? The cave-in, I mean.”

“Please. Otherwise they might break down the door.”

I tapped the tip of his nose with a finger and the ceiling was solid once more, as was the area in the hallways and adjacent rooms. I wove something more into the soil to give it extra strength and ensure a natural cave-in would not happen again. I wanted no more interruptions.

“Now can we get back to what we were doing?” I purred, biting his ear gently.

He pulled me to him and held up another sketch for us to study, before we attempted what was shown.

“Marvellous,” he said, and I laughed.