Brave
Page 12

I wanted all of him in me.
Reaching between us, I found the button on his jeans. It took nothing to open them. My hand flew to my own.
Ren’s entire body jerked under me, but he held on, his fingers clenching and unclenching on my shoulder.
“Get her,” someone ordered harshly. “Get her before she kills him.”
Kill him? I didn’t want to kill him. I just wanted him, all of him, in every way, because he was mine. I wanted to fuck and to feed, and I wanted nothing between us—
Ren’s hand lifted from my shoulder and curled around the back of my neck. I could feel his arm trembling as his mouth moved against mine, weak at first but still distracting me. Ren kissed me—kissed me as I inhaled. His hand tightened, tugging at my hair. The tip of his tongue against mine changed everything.
I stopped inhaling as a blast of desire scorched my skin. Kissing. Kissing was just as good as feeding, so I touched my tongue to his as his chest swelled. Sharp desire pounded through me. I ached for him. Throbbed. My skin tingled with lust as my hips rolled against him, trembling when I felt him, hard and thick—
“Ren.”
An animalistic sound erupted from deep within me, reverberating throughout the room. Someone was close, too close to us. I broke contact, lifting my head.
“Leave,” Ren gasped out, holding my head to his with flagging strength. “She won’t kill me.”
“Are you out of your mind?”
I growled a low purr of warning as I turned my head to the side. I didn’t care who was getting close, but I would rip them to shreds if they tried to get between us.
“I got her.” Ren’s lips dragged across mine, snagging my attention. I gripped the front of his pants, tearing the zipper. “Goddammit, leave now.”
There was a curse and then a voice I vaguely recognized. “It’s your death wish.”
“Go,” Ren groaned as I found what I was searching for, wrapping my hands around the heated length.
Someone responded, but it was lost in the need pounding through my veins. I heard a door slam shut and then Ren was pulling at my bottoms with shaking hands.
“Take from me.” His voice was hoarse and rough, a whip against my sensitive skin. “Take whatever you need from me.”
Things became a blur of trembling hands and slippery skin. Ren wasn’t holding me as tight. His hand had fallen to the bare skin of my hip but he was burning through me, his hips rising as I ground down to meet him. The air smelled of blood and sex. A great and terrible tension was building inside of me as I devoured Ren, nipping at his lips, sucking and licking. Bursts of energy entered me as I lifted myself up and slammed myself down on him.
“Kiss me, Sweetness,” Ren groaned, sounding ragged. “Kiss me, Ivy.”
I wasn’t kissing him? No. I’d been feeding again, lost in the dueling sensations as I chased after another high, another release.
Ren’s hand spasmed on my hip. “Ivy. Please.” He shuddered under me. “I love you.”
I love you.
Those three words cycled over and over, poking holes in the red haze clouding my thoughts. I love you. My heart squeezed. I love you. Wrenching my mouth from his, I sat up and kicked my head back. The tension in me became unbearable. I cried out as a wildness took over. Under me, Ren shook and groaned as he punched his hips up one last time, wringing a gasp out of me. His release sent me careening over the edge. The most intense sensation washed over me, like every nerve was firing at once all along every part of my body. Nothing had ever felt like that. I collapsed against Ren’s chest, my body trembling.
The last thing I remember before slipping into the waiting nothingness was Ren’s hand running up the center of my back and him whispering those three words over and over.
“I love you.”
When I opened my eyes again, I was quick to realize I was in that room and I was lying on top of a warm, hard body.
Shifting slightly, I lifted my head and looked down. Ren’s face was turned toward mine. His eyes were closed and there were dark shadows under them. They looked like bruises, and there was a gauntness to his cheekbones that had never been there before.
Mouth dry, I lifted my hand and touched his cheek. Dry blood caked my fingers. “Ren.”
There was movement behind his eyelids, but those lashes didn’t lift. My gaze dropped to his chest. It rose with shallow, uneven breaths. I rolled onto the little space on the table.
I . . . I didn’t feel right.
Swinging my legs off the table, I stood on weak legs. My hands were clammy as I reached down and pulled my pants up. The band was torn, but they stayed up. Ren still hadn’t moved.
What had I done?
In the back of my mind, I knew, but my head felt like it was full of smoke, my muscles made out of something weaker, and my bones felt brittle.
And my skin . . . my skin felt numb.
“I don’t feel right,” I whispered to the quiet room.
My gaze darted around and my breath got stuck in my throat when the windowless walls seemed to shrink in, constricting. Pressure clamped down on my lungs. I stumbled toward the door.
It swung open before I reached it. Tink stood in the doorway, his white-blond hair looking like he’d spent hours running his hands through it.
“Ivy.” He looked at Ren. “He’s still alive.”
A tremor started at the base of my spine. Of course, Ren was still alive. I didn’t want to kill him. I wanted—
“And I’m still traumatized by the fact you were about to become a live-action porno right in front of me.” Tink stepped into the room. “I forgot how that happens after—”
“I don’t feel good,” I whispered as my stomach cramped. I placed my hand against it, drawing in a shallow breath.
“To be honest, you don’t look good.”
I tried to step to the side, but my legs gave out. Tink moved quick as lightning, catching me. Somehow we ended up on the floor, Tink holding on to my chin. His eyes were wide with worry.
“Ivy, what’s wrong?” he asked.
Everything was wrong.
The numbness in my skin spread, seeping into my bones and organs. “I can’t . . . I can’t feel myself.”
His brows knitted. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“I can’t—” The numbness suddenly turned on me. It started as a humming feeling, but then it began to burn. “My skin—it hurts.”
Tink stared, and I thought I saw understanding creeping into his face, but the burn intensified. I lifted my hand, half expecting to see it on fire as a scream burst out of me.
“Shit,” Tink muttered. “Shit. Shit.”
My entire body jerked against his as the fire spread all over my skin, starting from the base of my spine and rolling down my legs, then up my torso and over my arms. Screaming, my muscles turned rigid as my back bowed.
“Ivy.” A weak, rough voice broke through the haze of pain.
Wide eyed, my gaze swung to the right. Ren was sliding off the table. He took one step but fell to his knees, crawling the rest of the distance. His shadowed eyes widened with surprise. “Ivy—”
Pain I’d never experienced or knew was possible consumed every part of my body. I jerked away from Tink, but he caught me around the waist as Ren grabbed the sides of my face. His lips were moving, but I couldn’t hear a single thing he was saying. Nothing made sense beyond the way my body was tearing itself apart from the inside.
A screeching noise erupted from me, the kind that would’ve normally raised the hairs all over my body, because it sounded so fae-like. The stiffness went out of me and I curled my legs up, panting as some of the burn eased off.
Then, just as I thought it was over, the most intense craving exploded in my gut. It was almost as bad as the fire. My gaze moved from Tink to Ren.
Need filled me.
Baring my teeth, I jerked toward him, but Tink caught me as Ren fell back on his ass.
“What is happening to her?” Panic filled his voice. “I thought we’d healed her?”
“We did,” Tink groaned, twisting as I railed against him—against Ren. “Now she’s paying the consequences.”
Hours blurred together, a twisted kaleidoscope of razor sharp need and all-consuming desire—lust for Ren and for what was inside him. Then the pain would return, burning through the cravings, turning me inside out.