Marked by Blood: Book 2 of The Marked Series by Ford, Rinna (top novels of all time txt) 📕

is to stop long before the heartbeat slows. Only in battle do you want to feed until there is no heartbeat left.”

I opened my eyes quickly and looked up at him. His jaw was hard, with his teeth clenched. He turned and walked over by the dresser.

“So now, I’m going to let you feed from me, Emelia. The easiest way to make your vampire emerge until you can do it all on your own is through pleasure, so that’s what we’re going to do.”

I parted my lips in a nervous pant and began fidgeting with my hands.

“But we aren’t going to have sex. We aren’t going to get anywhere close. Helping you with this is already testing in ways I never knew I’d ever be tested, and I don’t think I’ll be able to hold back if we reach that point, so when I say stop, we’ll stop. Understand? I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anyone in my very long life, but I don’t want you to mate with me by accident. I don’t want you to mate with me because you feel sorry for me or because you’re mad at Xander. I want you to mate with me because you need me like I need you.”

I wanted to tell him the words he wanted to hear, but I couldn’t. I felt them deep in my soul, but I couldn’t betray Xander. The words burned on the tip of my tongue, but instead of saying them, I took in a deep breath and turned toward the window.

“I understand,” I finally replied, looking out at the cloudy sky.

“Okay, good,” he sighed. But I knew it wasn’t good at all. It would be torture for us both.

I heard his footsteps as he crossed the room to stand behind me. His body heat was a fraction cooler than Xan’s, but I could still feel it against my back. He put his hands on my upper arms and gently turned me around.

Matias’ eyes were locked on mine and he licked his lips. Then he reached down and pulled his t-shirt up and over his head, dropping it in a heap on the floor beside us. I glanced at his chest and swallowed. A series of tattoos ran up his left arm stretched from his hand all the way up over his shoulder and over to the right side of his chest, disappearing into the waistband of his pants.

“I don’t want to get blood on my shirt,” he said. My eyes found his face again and I saw he wasn’t entirely truthful with what he said. “But I will admit, I love the fact you admire my body, little one.”

Matias licked his lips again, then without warning or any further preamble, his lips descended down onto mine forcefully. His hands found the back of my head as he pulled me in closer, but I really didn’t need much help. We both had been holding back, and at that moment, nothing was keeping us from what we wanted.

I reached up and fisted his hair with one hand and felt the dips and planes of the muscles on his back with the other. He was beautiful and sexy, and my mate. Mine.

His hands left my head and he picked me up, carrying me to a nearby chair where he sat down with me straddling his lap. I ground myself against the hardness under his jeans and moaned in delight.

He was all I needed. I felt my fangs descend in my mouth and my hunger for blood matched my hunger for his cock.

Matias grabbed a hold of my hair at the back of my head and he pulled me off of him. I hissed in anger and pain before I realized why he had done that. We had reached that point he told me we wouldn’t cross because of what would happen if we did.

I schooled my features, but held onto the lust I felt for Matias, which really wasn’t that hard to do.

“What do I do?” I asked him, trying to stick to the task at hand.

“You open your mouth and bite,” he said. “Do you hear my heartbeat again?”

I moved my face closer until the thumping was loud and clear. Matias leaned his head to the side, giving me access to the smooth column of his throat. My eyes landed on the exact spot I wanted to sink my fangs in and I licked my lips.

“Go ahead, Emelia,” he encouraged. “Just listen for the heartbeat.”

Without any other invitation, I opened my mouth wide and sank my fangs deep into the side of his neck. Matias groaned out in pleasure and thrusted his dick up toward me, hitting the exact spot I needed the pressure. Exquisite blood flowed over my tongue and down my throat. I moaned at the taste, at the sensation of it all, and I knew, this was the best thing I’d ever experienced.

“Listen for my heartbeat,” he groaned out between his teeth.

I continued sucking down his amazing-tasting blood, but I stayed conscious of the thumping in his chest. It began to slow slightly, letting me know I was close to taking too much. I quickly pulled away and licked my lips. Blood was still trickling down the two holes in the side of his neck and down his sculpted chest and my eyes tracked every drop.

“You need to close the bite marks now,” he told me, breaking me from my thoughts. “There’s a coagulant in your saliva that will stop the bleeding and close up the holes.” I furrowed my brows, not completely understanding. I was still high off the taste of his blood and the feel of his body underneath me. “You need to lick the holes, Emelia,” he sighed, explaining further.

I bent down and ran my tongue over the bite marks and sat back, watching them close up. There were still lines of blood trailing down Matias’ chest and I knew exactly what to do with them. I moved