Compelled (Shadow Beast Shifters Book 5)

When I came to, I was in a large bath surrounded by warm, red-tinged water, in what I could only assume was Lucien’s home. Familiar, golden-skinned arms were wrapped around my middle, holding me against his body, and the scent of cherry and oak was everywhere.

A sense of safety surrounded me, and it was as intoxicating as his blood. “What happened?” I asked, my voice husky. “How long have I been unconscious?”

The pain was gone from my body, and for the first time since eating the food, I felt strong and healthy again. “You’ve been unconscious for half a sleep cycle,” he said, and it was so nice to hear his voice. “I had to bleed you almost to death to get all the powder from your system. I’m sorry I couldn’t ask for permission, but I figured that saving your life gave me a pass.”

My laugh was dry and weak. “Yes, you get all the passes.” Waving my hand across the bath, I asked, “This is my blood?”

“No,” he tightened his hold, pulling me higher on his body. My curves sank into his hard strength once more. “It’s my blood. Your skin can absorb my energy, and you need all the extra you can get to return your strength. On top of the blood you’ve drunk.”

My mouth watered like a damn addict.

Lucien lifted me even higher, and I finally figured out what he’d been maneuvering me to do—flip my position so I was now straddling him.

I met his black-eyed gaze as he bared his teeth. “Feed,” he ordered. “I can feel your hunger.”

My wolf surged up before I could even call for her, this time shifting only our jaw and teeth. Lucien tilted his head to the side, and I bit him without thought. A low moan escaped as I took his life-force into mine, and a small part of me was starting to freak out about my current addiction.

I’d never had an addiction like this before—Oreos and licorice did not count. It scared me to think I’d have to wean off Lucien soon, but if I didn’t, I might lose the will to ever resist.

If one day he was gone from my life, I couldn’t crave him like this and not have an outlet to feed it. Tonight, though, I was in too deep to back out.

As more of his rich crimson filled my mouth and body, I started to rock against him, subconsciously moving to relieve the ache in my center. Lucien shifted our position, sliding me down onto his cock. The thick tip pushed slowly inside me, and he felt so damn good, the hard length like silky steel as it filled me completely.

Groaning and drinking, I cried out as Lucien thrust roughly, his hands on my hips as he lifted me for additional leverage. Blood bubbled from my mouth as I screamed, and the bathwater surged around us as Lucien fucked me like a vampire escaping his demons.

Water hit the tiles of the bathroom floor in time to the rhythm of our bodies crashing together. My body had been parched of life and health in that forest, and now it was drinking up everything Lucien offered.

The first orgasm hit me fast, but it lasted much longer than I’d expected when Lucien slowed his pace to draw out the pleasure. This vampire’s consideration was going to be my undoing one day. I’d always wondered if it was true that females experienced more intensity during sex when emotions were involved, and I had to say, it felt like it was happening for me.

This was more than just sexual attraction and a shared mission.

Lucien and I were bonding.

He cared about me, whether he wanted to admit it or not.

“Bee,” he rumbled. “I need to taste you.”

When I lifted my head, the bite wound I’d inflicted faded from his skin almost instantly. Leaning forward, I continued to ride him as he released his hold on my ass to wrap both hands around my tits.

His touch was firm over my hard nipples, and I cried out at his caress. I was so sensitive, and when he leaned forward and took my right nipple in his mouth, swirling around it with his tongue, I barely held onto a scream.

I came the moment he pierced the areola on either side, the sensation of him sucking both my blood and the hard peak into his mouth enough to destroy me then and there.

“Crimson, fuck,” I panted, so grateful to have survived the obstacle course. “What are you doing?”

His chuckle was low, rumbly, delicious, and intense. All of my feelings were bursting from me, and I could barely stop the tears hovering on the edge of my burning eyes. “I never knew sex could be like this,” I gasped, lacing my fingers into his hair to hold his mouth against my chest.

Lucien rumbled beneath me, his fangs retreating as he licked across my nipple. “As far as I’m concerned,” he said darkly, “there’s been no sex in your life until now. I will wipe all other touches from your memory. All other seeds from your body. I will claim every part of you until there’s no memory but me.”

Lucien was super possessive, and I was still super into it. “No man has ever made me come,” I told him softly before I tilted my head back and cried as he thrust harder. “A female did once, but that’s another story. I was all but a virgin when I met you.”

He didn’t seem satisfied by that, and I gasped when I found our positions reversed again, only this time I was on the bottom, my back against the side of the bath while Lucien slammed into me, his strength the only thing keeping me from sliding under the water and drowning.

The spiraling buildup of my next orgasm had my head spinning. I opened my legs as wide as I could, one of them ending up over the top of Lucien’s right arm while the other was wrapped around his waist. His eyes were locked on mine, and I loved how dark they were. That was when his emotions were the strongest, sending my heart into pulses as strong as the ones in my pussy.

“Crimson,” I whispered, desperate to tell him how I felt, but he changed angles then, hitting my G-spot, and all conscious thought vanished.

I screamed, raking my nails across him as my wolf rose up, claws cutting through his skin as cherry and oak filled the bathroom once more. Lucien rumbled my name, his strokes growing slower and stronger until I felt the swell of his cock. As he came, the spirals of pleasure inside me exploded, and I continued to pulsate around him.

When I finally managed to catch my breath, I asked, “Why did that feel like… more?”

Unsurprisingly, Lucien didn’t answer, choosing instead to stand and lift me from the tub, taking us both into the nearby shower to wash off. I found myself sleepily falling against him as he turned on the water to near scalding and his hands made light work of soaping me up and cleaning me down.

I knew I should do the same for him, but I just couldn’t find the energy. He didn’t seem to mind, taking his time to caress every part of me. Eventually, I ended up in his bed, thick, warm covers pulled up to my chin. “Shouldn’t I sleep in my room?” I asked, yawning as my eyes fluttered closed.

“Not a chance,” he shot back. “I’m not letting you out of my damn sight until this selection is over.”

That had my eyes opening briefly. “Wasn’t I kicked out after the obstacle course?”

Lucien looked grim. “No. Carter decided that you were unfairly disadvantaged and should be able to continue on. The council agreed.”

Of course they did. They’d been following Carter’s bullshit from the start.

“You killed Hattie,” I murmured sleepily.

There was a brief brush of his hand against my cheek, and I could have sworn he said, “Killing her once wasn’t nearly enough,” but I was already drifting off.