I breathe in deep, soaking in the scent of Cordelia's blood thumping through her veins. It calls to me all the time, but it is nearly irresistible when it is laced with fear or lust. My teeth ache to sink into her, to pierce her supple skin and let her warm blood flow over my tongue. I want to see the way her body reacts to my venom. Will she arch her back or beg me for more? Will she enjoy the sting before the euphoria takes over? Giving into the temptation and finding out might be my damnation.

My lips move down her cheek and follow the curve of her jaw. I press them to her pulse, counting each beat. I swear I hear my name within the rhythm. Just a taste, one tiny nick and I will stop. My tongue slips past my lips, getting the smallest taste of her skin before she pulls away.

"We need to talk."

I slap my hand over my mouth and massage my aching teeth. The last thing I want is for her to see me losing myself to bloodlust when her mind is somewhere else.

But when I make eye contact with her, I see her mind is not completely somewhere else. She just wants to talk before we start back where we left off. It's the responsible thing to do. I admire her resolve. I wish I had more of it, but when it comes to her, I'm quickly losing control.

"All right, Cordelia. I'm right here. Let's talk."

She turns in bed to face me. She already looks better; the dark circles under her eyes have faded and her skin has more of the rosy tone in it I've grown to lo—adore.

"I met my dad in my dreams. That's why I was crying. I was telling him goodbye, and I wanted to make sure he knew I wasn't angry with him anymore. Because I was for a minute there. But now I understand why he and my mom didn't tell me. Elias, they thought this island was safe. He said that it would start wars if you all started killing each other. Is that true?"

"It is."

She runs her hand over the side of her face and into her hair. Her mouth hangs open, like she is searching for the right words to say. Our lives are so different in that way. She has so much to discover, and most of what this world and mine have to offer lost their effect on me long ago.

"What's happening are acts of war. What does that mean for vampires and werewolves and everyone else?"

I sink down on the mattress beside her, pressing my body closer to her than appropriate. This isn't the time to be sedating my libido, but I need some kind of contact to stay focused. "The trolls and warlocks will want retribution for their losses. If the ruler of the murderer's people doesn't hand them over, they will consider them in cahoots with the murderer. It will get bloody."

"Shit," she murmurs, and for a moment I am afraid she's going to jump up and do that thing where she paces around the room while she thinks and talks.

But she doesn't. She slides one of her legs between mine and tangles our feet together. "I have one question, Elias. One question that if you tell me you don't know the answer to, I'll leave it alone and won't ask again."

My heart is beating out of my chest, the skin-to-skin contact with her nearly too much. "Anything."

"If that wasn't you in my dream...who was it?"

I flex my jaw as the answer sits heavily on my mind. The ramifications if I'm right put us both in danger. It redefines without my consent what my relationship with Cordelia can be. I despise the possibility.

"My brother, Cane." His name is so foreign on my tongue that I might as well have just learned a new language. It has been ages since I spoke it. If I'm being honest, I'd hoped to never say it again.

"Your brother? I didn't know you had a sibling. I mean, that's a silly assumption to make. But since you were created a vampire and not born it, I thought your siblings would be dead."

"So did I."

Her brow furrows and her eyes dart around the room as she processes everything. "I don't understand."

"Cane and I are identical twins. We were also created on the same night by the same sire. Our bond is...intense. I thought he was dead for the past two decades."

She cringes and her voice is laced with uncertainty as she says, "I'm happy your brother is alive. It sucks that he is on his way to being a serial killer."

I shake my head and scoff. Precious Cordelia, able to see the bright side even when there truly isn't one.

"I take it you're not happy he's alive." I don't say anything, and she takes that as a cue to keep speaking. "Okay, but...why would he want to kill me? I'm sorry, I know I said one question only. But...I don't get it."

"He and I have not been on the best of terms. Our relationship has always been tumultuous. He could be using you to get to me, but even that seems pointless." It really is. Cordelia would serve him better as an ally rather than another tick in his murder spree.

She nods and purses her lips. "All right. Well, is there anything else you need to tell me, Elias? Because now is the time. I'm trusting you here. I really do believe you're the only one who can keep me safe right now. And I—" She swallows and tugs at a loose thread on the duvet. "I fucking missed you, and we were only apart for less than a day."

"There is nothing else you need to know. I'll say it as many times as you need to hear it, I will protect you." I cup her cheek and pull her closer. "Cane will get his hands on you over my dead body."

And thank fuck, she moves toward me and swings one leg over my lap, planting herself as close to me as she can get. "I believe you. But I'll let you keep saying it, because honestly, it turns me on." Her lips turn up into a smirk, and when she rolls her hips over mine, I know she's done talking.

I gather her hair in one hand and tilt her head back until our eyes are level. "Are you sure this is what you want right now?"

Her eyelids lower and she leans forward—I let her lean forward—to drag her tongue along my jawline and down the column of my neck. "Yes, Elias. I am 100% sure this is what I want and need right now."

"Me too, dolce tentazione."  I pull her tank top over her head and toss it to the bed. All that beautiful porcelain skin on full display. Her breasts overflow from my palms and her pink nipples look perfect between my fingers. I need to know if every full, soft curve of her will feel just as good against me. Reaching behind my head, I pull at my t-shirt until I'm free and the warmth of her melts into my skin.

She sucks in a sharp breath and runs her palms over the bare skin on my chest as if she's never seen it before. I can't help but chuckle at the wonder on her face.

"What's that look for?"

She shakes her head and looks up at me. "I know we went swimming, but...for fuck's sake, I didn't get to get this up close and personal with you that night. You...are...perfect," she whispers, lowering her face and peppering kisses down my sternum like she can't get enough of the taste of my skin. I know the feeling.

I grab her thighs and press her to the mattress, my body following hers. "By the time I'm done with you, you will be very familiar with every inch of me. And I will have you seared into my memory for the rest of my existence."

I drag my tongue down her body until I'm sucking on her nipple. My mouth waters at the taste of her, and I have an overwhelming desire to bite the tender flesh between my teeth. I settle for pinching the other hard peak, just so I can see her reaction to the pain.

The hiss that escapes her throat sends a shot of pleasure straight to my cock and has me aching to free myself from behind my zipper. But I maintain some semblance of control and pinch harder before whispering, "You like that, dolce tentazione? You like that pain?"

"Yes," she gasps, tugging at me like she's desperate to get me closer. "More. Please, Elias."

I take her nipple between my teeth. Not enough to break skin, but answer her plea. Her fingers slide into my hair and she pulls. Not only can she slip into my dreams, but the vixen isn't afraid to dish out her own brand of pain.

I test the waters between us again, wanting to know her limits and needing to understand what drives her wild. "Does the pain make your pussy wet, Cordelia?"

The grin that slides across her lips is wicked and her answer has me even harder than I was when I asked the question. "Why don't you slide these shorts off, take a taste, and find out?"

There is no hiding my fangs when I smile up at her as I ease my body between her legs. I lower my mouth to the damp spot between her thighs, getting my first taste of her through the satin. "You are so demanding. I'll have to teach you your place with me, how to wait for me naked and with your legs spread. You will present yourself to me and I will feast on every," I pull the shorts down her legs, "delicate, wet part of you."

Fuck. Every inch of this woman is beautiful.

Cordelia gasps, her hips already lifting off the bed. "So responsive to my every touch," I murmur, tossing the scrap of fabric she called shorts onto the floor before placing my palms on her inner thighs and roughly pushing them wider. "All of this...for me."

"Always," she whispers, threading her fingers back between the strands of my hair. "Even when I was angry with you. One look at you, and I want your hands on me."

"Let's hope you will settle for my tongue." I lick her from bottom to top, capturing every drop I've already pulled from her body. She is tangy and sweet; the most decadent thing I've ever eaten.

I lavish her with long licks, teasing her swollen clit with just the tip of my tongue. The love/hate relationship she has with what I'm doing to her only fuels me. I hold her hips down when she lifts them for more friction, and I gently torture her with the caress of my tongue. This is my payback for the constant hard-on she's given me since she stepped foot in this house. I want her blissed out on the same torture she has unknowingly subjected me to.

"Elias," she grits out through clenched teeth. "What the hell are you doing to me?"

I smile against her inner thigh before running my tongue through her slit and back up to the part of her that is throbbing for me, not giving it nearly the attention it needs to be satiated.

"Well, dolce tentazione, it seems as though I'm licking your decadent little pussy, although I do admit I'm having a good time teasing you. Considering you've done a fair bit of teasing yourself."

Her jaw drops and I dive back between her legs, continuing my maddening ministrations. Trust me; it's getting to me too. I want to taste her climax on my tongue as bad as she wants to give it to me.

"Me, tease you? How so?" she asks incredulously.

I press my thumb to her clit, letting it take the place of my mouth for a moment. "The list of how you don't leave me hard for you is much shorter. But I'll play along just for the sake of drawing this out. You sway your hips when you walk past me. It was your little reminder of what I couldn't have in public. Your eyes undress me all the time and then you play it off by batting your lashes. And fuck, when you lick your lips..." I move my thumb and show her exactly the feeling I get from watching her tongue slide across her pink mouth. "I think this is fair payback."

She wraps her legs around me, pulling me in closer and practically growls, "Would you rather me not show you how fucking sexy I find you? Because that could be arranged. But what I'd really like to do is suck your cock right now...that's what I'm usually imagining while I 'undress you' with my eyes and lick my lips. Just in case you want to know."

I rise to my knees between her splayed legs. Those stormy bedroom eyes soak in every inch of me. I can't help but smirk when her sight follows my hands to the front of my pants. She doesn't so much as blink as I unzip and free my cock. I grip my hard shaft, grateful for a small reprieve from the ache.

"This is what you think about?" I ask.

Her plump lips part just enough for her tongue to slip out to wet them, and she nods. "Fuck, yes. You're—" She nearly chokes on her words and breathes out a heavy sigh. "I hate to be that person, but you're even bigger than I fantasized you'd be...I—wow." I've never heard her at such a loss for words, and it's so charming that if I weren't so turned on, I'd probably laugh out loud.

My ego is properly stroked by those words. But little does she know that there is so much more than meets the eye. I glide my hand down, revealing the line of barbells that start below the head and end just before my balls. Her eyes widen and dart to mine.

"I didn't know you had a, um," she clears her throat and draws her bottom lip between her teeth before continuing, "piercing. I've never actually seen one in person before. Actually, I've never seen one at all before, just read about them in books. Supposedly they make everything, like, even more pleasurable." She's rambling, and it's fucking adorable.

I press my cock down giving her a clear view of the last two piercings—the one that runs behind the head and exits from the tip and the barbell with two larger balls at the base. Her face lights up and her lips part as she realizes exactly where they are meant to hit. I can practically see the vision flashing through her mind of her impaled on me while making sure those hit exactly where they should.

"Only good girls get to discover just how pleasurable it all is." I stroke myself, making sure each piercing captures her attention. "Can you be a good girl for me, Cordelia?"

She nods slowly, dragging her gaze from my cock to my face. "Yes, master," she breathes, remembering our conversation from yesterday morning. "I'll be your good girl. Anything you want."

I stand at the side of the bed and gesture with my first two fingers in a come here motion. She obeys, crawling to me and sitting on her legs before me. Pride swells inside of me when she places her hands on her thighs, but she makes one small mistake. She lowers her head, hiding her eyes from me. I lift her chin and sternly say, "Eyes always on me, dolce tentazione. No matter how embarrassed or ashamed you feel, you always let me see the emotions I'm evoking in you. Do you understand?"

"Yes, master."

I hold my hand out to her and she places her palm in mine. With my attention on only her, I wrap her fingers around me. The delight on her face when she makes contact with the cool metal is worth every star in the sky.

"You may explore," I say, my voice raspy with need.

She inhales and tilts her head to the side, running her thumb over the piercings as the rest of her hand works me, sliding the velvet skin up and down somehow exactly the way I like it. Her lips are slightly parted, her tongue darting out every once in awhile to wet them, her bare chest rising and falling with her rapid breaths. "Can I..." she asks, leaning in closer, her lips parting a few centimeters wider, and it is clear what she means to do.

I tug on the hair tie holding her silver strands on the top of her head. The waves cascade down her shoulders, framing her pink cheeks. She is beautiful and wild and eager to taste me. I gather her hair in both my hands and pull it to the back of her head. The power I feel in this moment is unlike anything I've ever experienced. This sweet little dreamer is under my control, hungry for my cock. I have the power to deny her, but I won't.

Keeping my grip on her with one hand, I bring the other to her waiting mouth. My thumb glides along her bottom lip. She is timid in her approach, and I can't help but wonder how many before me had to chance to feel her lips around them. My guess, not many.

"Open wider," I quietly demand.

She does exactly as I ask...because of course she does. This woman is the epitome of submissive—in the bedroom. Outside of the bedroom, a whole other story. But once again, that's the exact kind of thing that turns me on.

She's everything I want, and I know, deep down, that nothing good can come from this. Not in the end.

But I don't care.

"Good girl," I praise, and she practically glows under it. Like she is living to hear me tell her I like what she's doing.

Lucky for her, I think I'm going to fucking love it.

She moves forward and, hesitantly at first, closes her lips around the head of my cock, her tongue sweeping around the crown, lapping at the cool metal of the barbell. I hiss at first contact and tug on her hair, reveling in the way her mouth feels against me. She takes that as a sign to move back, looking up at me with wide, alarmed eyes.

"I'm sorry, did I do something wrong?"

"No. Keep going. Show me that mouth is good for more than sassing me."

She smiles at that and sets back to work. Keeping her eyes on me, her cheeks hollow and her hand moves over the part of me she can't fit into her mouth. One day, I will teach her how to take me deep, but for now, I just want her to do what comes naturally.

"Keep looking at me like that and I won't last long, dolce tentazione. It is your call to make. I can come down that pretty throat, or..." My hand slides between her legs where her thighs are wet and her clit aching. "Do you think you could take me here?" I slide a finger inside of her.

She gasps and sucks me harder, gripping me at the base of my cock, sliding her mouth down and taking another inch of me as she nods, pleading with her now-sparkling silver eyes.

"I need your words, Cordelia. You won't have many opportunities to take what you want with me. I'm giving you this one. Let me hear what you want."

She pulls her mouth off my cock but not before letting her tongue drag over every single piercing on my shaft, never breaking eye contact with me. Damn, this girl is something else.

"I didn't want to stop my work," she says as she rises to her knees so we are eye level. Pressing her bare chest against mine, I feel how hard her nipples are, how worked up she's gotten by sucking me off. "But if you need to hear my words, here they are: fuck me, Elias." She clears her throat and whispers in my ear. "Forgive me...fuck me, master."

I pull her body flush to mine, pushing my cock into her soft stomach. I grip her chin and stare at her wet lips. "I will, but first, you have to prove to me that you can handle it."