Blood-Bonded by Force (43 page)

Nỵko watched Sharanna suckle happily, her gaze fastened on her father. To be looked at like that would be…the most amazing… An object the size of a baseball wedged into his throat. He swallowed, but the sucker stayed.

Jaċken glanced up, the sudden intensity in his eyes wrenching cords in Nỵko’s stomach. “Go to Faith. Stop being afraid, you big chowderhead.”

Nỵko blinked, but stood like stone, the knots in his stomach rooting him to the spot.

Jaċken shifted the baby in his arms. “Am I going to have to hit you?”

“It worked for Thomal,” Dev drawled.

Nỵko startled back to himself. What the heck
was
he doing. “No, that’s all right. I’m going now. In fact”—he pointed at the doorway behind him—“you don’t mind if I run, do you?”

* * *

Faith clicked on her nightstand lamp and leapt out of bed, whirling her bathrobe around her body as she raced for her bedroom door. The only reason anyone would be knocking at six-thirty in the morning would be for news about Tonĩ.
Finally
! Faith had been lying awake in bed all night. She must’ve choreographed an entire ballet in her head by now. Whipping open her door, she—

Her heart fell.
No
! Nỵko looked terrible. Dark bruises of exhaustion lay under his eyes, his face was drawn into a mask of pain, and if she didn’t know better, she’d say it was raining in Ţărână—he was drenched. So the news was bad. She clutched her bathrobe. “Oh, no.”

“Tonĩ’s okay,” he quickly assured her. “The baby, too. Sorry to wake you, but I thought you’d want to know.”

“Yes.” She felt her shoulders sag. “Oh, thank goodness.” She took a few moments to breathe, then gave him another once-over. “You don’t look so well.”

“Don’t feel so well, either.” He pushed an unsteady hand through his unruly hair. “And then some.”

Touching her hand to the doorjamb, she smiled at him tenderly. “It’s been a long night.” She wanted to get her hands in that hair of his, tame it, caress it. “Do you want to come in? I mean, if you have to get back to your brother, I understand…”

“No. Jaċken was the one who made me get my butt over here.”

She inched a brow up. “He did?”

He smiled halfway. “I guess he was getting sick of watching me melt.”

“Well, what does he expect, considering all that’s been going on?” She reached for Nỵko’s hand. “Come inside, Nỵko. I don’t bite.” The pun was lost on him. Or…something was more off with him than she realized because—

He pulled away. “I-I can’t, not until…” He paused to swallow. “Our bond isn’t complete, Faith, which means I’m feeling
extremely
driven right now. Once I step into your room, I—”

“What?” she interrupted sharply.

He frowned at her. “What, what?”

“What are you talking about? That’s what.”
Not complete
? She put her hands on her hips. “You fed on me. We’re bonded.”

“But… No. We didn’t have sex after I fed, so…no.”

She stared at him, her jaw coming loose.

“I have to, uh, ejaculate inside you in order to…” He reddened. “Didn’t you read the community manual?”

“Eight months ago! I can’t remember everything I read
eight months ago
.” Also, she’d skimmed it, figuring Vârcolac culture wouldn’t ever have anything to do with her. She’d lived all but the last few days in Ţărână with one foot out the door. Groaning softly, she dropped her head into her hand. All this time she’d thought she’d had him, and she hadn’t. And now… “Oh, God. You’ve changed your mind about bonding with me, haven’t you?” Tears rolled down her cheeks before she even knew she was going to cry.
Why
couldn’t she get her life together in this town?

He jolted to attention. “No. Nonononono.”

She turned and strode back into her room, plopping down onto her iron-framed couch.

Nỵko gave her bedroom a panicked glance. “Ah, heck.” He took a careful step inside, planting his boot cautiously, as if the carpet was quicksand. “I’m not afraid of being with you anymore,” he said, closing the door behind him. “I got scared about not being able to protect the people I love, and I gave up when I should’ve listened to you and kept fighting. But…I just saw in Ţărână’s hospital how stupid I’ve been. I know I may not be able to save everyone, but I’ve had a lot of practice with saving, so I’d say I’m pretty good at it by now. The odds are strong for me being able to keep you and our children safe. Strong enough for me not to live in a hole.”

She blinked. “Our children?”

Another blush rose to his cheeks. “Yes, if you, uh…but I need you to be sure about us before we press ahead, because…well, a couple of things. First, you let me feed on you to save my life, and I need to know it wasn’t only for that reason. That may sound stupid, but please try to understand that no woman has ever liked me before, in a romantic way. Women are terrified of me, then once they get used to me, they think of me as…I don’t know, a nice protective ogre. I can’t seem to wrap my brain around the idea that you could possibly want Big Scary Nỵko as a mate. I’m sorry, it doesn’t compute. I need to be dead sure. So the second thing is…” He ducked his head. “Do you think of me that way? Um…romantically?”

She wiped her tears on the sleeve of her bathrobe. “Of course.”

Grimacing, he scuffed the toe of his boot against the carpet.

“You think I copped to that too easily? Like I haven’t been paying attention?” She crossed her arms. “I love that you adore children. I love that you take on the job of watching out for the other warriors, because they’re tough, strong guys, so who else is there? I love how dedicated you are to your brothers and how much you clearly respected and admired your mother. I love your nimble fingers and nice laugh. I love that you took an interest in ballet, purely for me, and even amateur that you are, you noticed I dance with passion. I love that you think I smell like cookies—you can thank Kacie for that secret. I love that for the first time in a long time, I feel like there’s someone in my life who’s strong enough to carry the load when I can’t. I love
you
.”

His throat moved visibly.

“And, you know, love has a funny way of carving out attraction from something that wasn’t there before. I saw you as handsome right after our first and only date. But things really heated up for me yesterday in that cave room. It was the first time I’d seen you without a shirt. Your muscles are spectacular, and I thought all of your tattoos were kind of wicked artistic—although I probably shouldn’t think that, considering the horrible way they were put on. But here’s the blunt truth: when I sat on your lap, your penis and testicles felt big, and that made me want to hump your lights out. How’s that for feeling romantically inclined toward you? Enough? Are you going to pass out?” He looked on the verge of it, and as much as he weighed, if he toppled over, he’d probably crash right through the floor. “Listen, Nỵko, if you want to date some more, to be completely sure, then—”

“Please, no,” he groaned. “This half-bond is killing me, Faith. I don’t think I can bear it much longer.”

She pulled her chin in. “Wait. Are you saying you look like this”—she waved her hand up and down his body—“because of
me
?”

His lids sank down as if pulled there by lead weights.

Answer enough. “God, Nỵko, I don’t know how to convince you. I spent
eight months
waiting for you. What else do you want me to do? I’m not sure I have the energy for another Greek tragedy demonstration after Oţărât, but if you—”

“No.” He pressed his large palms over his face. “Nothing. No more.” He groaned again. “I believe you.”

“Well, good.” She saw that his hands were shaking. “Okay… So…? Do you want to see my ballerina tattoo now?”

He dropped his hands and, despite the saucy way she’d said that, his expression was very serious. “I really do.” He started toward her, tearing his shirt off over his head—as in, actually tearing. His pants came off in the next moment, his boots, socks,
everything
.

Faith opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Right in front of her was a panorama of muscle-packed male, Nỵko’s naked state once again putting on display his savage body art. The black, interlocking teeth covered his entire torso, sweeping up his abdomen, over his broad chest, up and over his shoulders, where, on the right, they disappeared beneath a square of gauze bandage. He didn’t have a single tattoo below his waist, but…That penis and testicles she’d just mentioned?
Oh, my
.

Nỵko followed her line of sight to his crotch. “That’ll pop up once I feed on you again, and don’t worry, my bite won’t hurt this time.” He plucked her off the couch by her armpits and carried her, feet dangling, to the bed. Setting her on the edge of the mattress, he pushed her bathrobe off her shoulders, then hiked her nightgown over her head.

Suddenly bared, her nipples puckered. She didn’t think she’d ever been stripped so fast. His eagerness was… She hid a smile. Lying back, she rolled slightly onto her left side and lifted her right hip to him. “There she is.”

Nỵko pressed two fingers to her ballerina tattoo as his gaze traveled the length of her body. “How the heck did I end up with such a porcelain doll for a mate? I was supposed to bond with a woman who was part-hippopotamus or something.”

“Come here.” She settled flat on her back. “You won’t crush me. Just prop yourself up on your elbows.”

But he didn’t move. Something was happening to his face…

It took a moment for her to figure out the expression—she’d never thought to see anger on her sweet Nỵko—but he was livid, eyes fiery, the sides of his jaws bulging, his heavy fists clenched so tight that she could see the tendons stretched out from his knuckles. It took another moment for her to determine what had set him off. He was staring at the red and swollen patch of skin on her belly.

“What. Is. That?” The question was squeezed out between his teeth.

She covered the area with her palm, catching back a flinch.
Ouch
. The skin was still very sensitive.

He pushed her hand aside. “Are those two black
dots
?”

“Um…” She wasn’t scared, per se, but seeing Nỵko like this wasn’t fun.

“Lørke tacked you, didn’t he?”

There wasn’t any point in lying. “Yes. After I called out your name, he said he had to mark me as his.”

Nỵko’s upper lip peeled off one of his fangs. “That ass hates me.” He tapped the tattoos on his neck. “Because he couldn’t break me.”

“Look, honey, what’s done is done,” she said, sitting up. “It’s two measly dots, and they don’t even hurt that much, but if we keep thinking about it, then it will ruin our night together and that will be a victory for your father.” She studied Nỵko’s face. “Right?”

He seemed to be taking in what she’d said. The lines of anger were easing from his expression.

She reached for Nỵko, setting her hand on his hip. “Let’s not allow him to do that.” She tugged him forward, lifting her face for a kiss.

His lips came down, but had barely touched hers before he was falling on top of her.

“Ooof.”

“Sorry,” he panted. “And fair warning. I’m not going to be very good at this.”

His body heat flash-charged to a dizzying temperature, a raw, animal scent coming off him. She placed her hands on the heavy slabs of his shoulders. “You don’t need to rush.” But he clearly wasn’t capable of anything else. His heart pounded violently against her breasts as his mouth dropped to search frantically at her throat. Exhaling a feverish breath against her skin, Nỵko angled his head deeper into the bend of her neck. Pressure increased.

She tensed for the space of a second, instinctively clutching his shoulders harder at the sensation of her skin being punctured. Then she relaxed. Oh, he was right. His bite didn’t hurt this time. There was only that incredible warmth, as if her body contained a small sun, heat blooming from the inside and moving out, pushing pleasure everywhere she had nerve endings. Sighing softly, she lolled her head back into the mattress and reveled in the feel of Nỵko sucking vigorously, his steady moans vibrating against her chest. Something about this was so…intimate.

Pulling his fangs out with a final groan, he started in on a mad poke-about with his erection, the head of his sex jabbing her pelvis bone, her mons, her clitoris. She nearly yelped as he bumped into her anus.
Goodness
. It was time to get her hand down there and guide him to—

The rounded head of his sex seated in her opening, and with a jerk of his hips, he plunged inside her.

She cried out softly, stunned by the fulsome weight of him. The walls of her sheath rippled, adjusting to his size and dimension, her deepest muscles grabbing at his length.
Oh, yes
.

Shuddering, Nỵko barked out a shout, then went still, his breathing ragged and his expression utterly flabbergasted.

She bit back a smile.
Oops
.

He stared at her in panic.

She stared back at him through a sparkly vista of Fiinţă-generated stars. “It’s okay.”

“I knew I was going to be bad, but not
that
bad.”

“It was the half-bond, honey. It was making you crazy.” She might not be a Vârcolac expert, but she could tell that much. “Don’t worry about it.”

His tongue dragged along his lips. “I’m not going to be like this always?”