Nails digging into his back, she bit at his throat and jaw, sharp, stinging nips that made him groan. The hunger within her was violent, shocking, completely unrestrained. Yet there was something missing, and by the blood, she knew what it was… Sinking her teeth into the corded tendons in his neck, she bit just hard enough to make his hips jerk.

“Fuck.” Hardly the tender love words she’d imagined, but somehow rawer, more primitive for it.

He came with a violent shudder, rocking hard into her, his entire body shaking as he gave himself over to her. The sight of his face, his eyes clenched shut and his mouth parted in ecstasy, did something to her deep inside.

Mine, the hunger inside her purred. But something within her wanted more.

Her mind raced. She’d never drunk fresh from the vein before the other day. Control was vital, and yet a part of her felt sleekly fulfilled, as if some darker recess of her nature had unfurled itself, glutting itself on the lack of control, the fierce, primitive nature of what had just occurred between them. Reveling in a claiming that was possessive and fierce, owing nothing to the rational part of her mind. Perhaps she’d been suppressing her needs for so long that she hadn’t truly understood the darkest part of herself.

Leo collapsed atop her. When he tried to move, Mina curled her arms around him and held him tight, feeling him still inside her. She needed to hold him right now, a little afraid of what had occurred between them. Her entire body was wrung out with the intensity, but she couldn’t deny that her heart thundered in her chest, reminding her of the gloriousness of living. She felt dangerously alive, the predator inside her still alert.

Leo finally lifted his face from the pillow. “That wasn’t entirely what I intended.”

“No?” Mina nuzzled her face against his throat. “Perhaps it’s what I planned instead.”

His eyelids lowered, only the dark hint of his pupils watching her. Leo slowly withdrew from her body, leaving her wet and aching and loving every moment of it. He curled her into his strong arms, tucking her back into the hollow of his chest and hips. A position that could be either a prison—or total protection.

Mina relaxed her head back onto the pillow of his arm, kissing his biceps.

“You like it when I lose control,” he murmured.

“Of course I do. Surrender goes both ways, my love.”

“My love?” he repeated with a questioning lilt, tracing skittering circles over her hip.

Mina froze at the realization of what she’d said. Feeling it, Leo kissed the back of her neck and settled in against her, his breath shivering over her skin. “Do you need blood?”

The sharp ache of unfulfillment echoed sharply within her, yet she was nervous. Leo rolled over her and reached for his leather-bound kit, taking out a small razor and testing it against his thumb. He looked at her, accurately reading her expression.

“I know how much you want it, how much you fear it.” He held the razor out to her. “And I know this means another surrender for you, but think of it this way: you’ve been holding your hunger in check for years. Tonight, what we do is dangerous. I want you sharp and alert, and this will grant you that.”

At what point had control become fear? Mina eyed the razor. Her mouth watered, nostrils flaring. Everything in her went predatory still.

In the silence she could hear his heart beating. He lay down and stretched one arm above him, cupping his head in his palm, eyeing her with the type of smile she’d never seen on his face before. Completely relaxed and open, with a faint hint of boyishness. Dragging the tip of the razor over his own skin, he let the smile die as her interest flared.

Heart hammering, Mina reached out and took it from him, letting its sharp edge glide down his abdomen just enough to leave a white pressure line on his skin. With her vision enhanced, she could make out every tiny blond hair on his body, the faint lines at the corners of his eyes, even the grain of his dark stubble. She wanted to lick her way up his body, trailing the razor with her.

“You’re making me want things I’ve never wanted before.” She let a tiny bead of blood well near his nipple as she pressed the razor harder. Leo sucked in a taut hiss of breath, but his gaze never left hers.

“Perhaps I’m simply encouraging you to do what you’ve always secretly wanted to, even if that means merely admitting it to yourself.” His other hand slid up her thigh, helping her straddle him. “I like it when you lose control. I like seeing this part of you, knowing that no one else ever has. Even Malloryn.”

Tangled red hair tumbled over her shoulders as she looked up. “You’re jealous.”

“Of course I am.” She saw the same hint of possession in his eyes that she knew dwelled in hers. Almost a challenge.

“You shouldn’t be.” Reaching out, she touched her fingertip to the droplet of blood on his chest and sucked it into her mouth. The taste of it exploded through her, igniting her senses. Beneath her his cock surged, pressing against wet, sensitive flesh.

“Where?” he asked, knowing the decision had been made.

Mina’s heart raced. She knew, even before her vision shattered into shadows, where she wanted to take him. The perfect imprint of her teeth still marred the column of his throat.

Leo saw the direction of her gaze and tilted his head to the side. “Take me, then. Mark me.”

And so she did.

Twenty-two

Undertown existed deep beneath the rookeries and streets of the East End, a mishmash of tunnels and hidey-holes carved into the old, abandoned, and partially collapsed train tunnels of the Eastern Underground link. Three years ago a vampire haunting Whitechapel had culled most of the denizens that lived down there, until Blade and Honoria killed it. The slasher gangs that frequently haunted the rookeries had killed the remaining humans, selling their blood to the Echelon’s draining factories or to those rogue blue bloods who could pay coin for it on the black market. Now only desperation drove people to seek refuge down here in the dank, whispering darkness.

Desperation and revolution.

Splashing along the tunnels, Mina counted quietly under her breath as they reached each intersection. Tiny marks were chiseled onto the tunnel walls, indicating which way to go. Not that any of the others understood them.

“Bold,” Leo murmured. “To create an automaton army right in the midst of the enclaves.”

“Who would know?” she asked, aware of how closely he followed. Ever since the blood-letting she’d been hyperaware of him, her senses transformed until she wondered how long she’d been only half-asleep and unaware of it. It excited her, even as caution reared. She could feel her blood rushing through her veins, the ache of his claiming deep within her body.