Andros teased his mouth over her cheek, her jaw, feeling the inevitable quickening of her pulse. No one resisted him. They couldn’t. His victims offered him their neck from which to feed. The scent of her skin filled him. Clean, pure, not untouched…but still, perfect. He could almost taste the patterns of ink permeating her aura and they called to something deep within him. Something unknown in the decades he’d been a vampire. They were a code, a language. Her ship’s language.
“Trying to control this freighter?” His tongue traced a wet line and for a moment he let himself close his eyes. Her energy swirled against his taste buds and he drew her essence into his body. Madelen tensed and the flow of her power increased. Andros almost groaned. “I could eat you right here.”
She twisted against him, but he held her firm, the wild burn of her giving him the strength. “What are you doing?”
A growl lurked in her voice. She was used to being obeyed. It made Andros smile against her neck, his fangs grazing her skin. The heady mix of her blood with the surge of her power pressed him hard against her. His fingers tightened around her arms, the length of his body pinning her to the rail. Just one taste before he locked her away in his cabin. His fangs pierced her flesh, driving down to find the rich flow of sweet blood.
Her quick, reluctant half moan sank down through his body and he pushed his hips hard against hers, finding the firm muscle of her belly.
“Are you going to fuck me right here?”
The almost cool question broke into the haze of approaching bliss. And it was strange to hear the smooth, perfectly correct tones he associated with an imperial ship using such language. Still, he liked it. His fangs eased free of her neck and he lapped the fiery droplets of her blood. “I can do whatever I want with you.” His hands trailed down her body until he found her ass. He squeezed, urging her belly to grind against his erection. In the thick darkness, she almost glowed and the need to take her, to bury himself in her perfection was all too tempting. “You’re booty.”
Her short laugh raked the air. “Booty?” She paused and he watched the myriad of light and dark points shift around her face. He needed to learn her language. Her mouth thinned. “You are one of those bio-enhanced hijackers.”
“We prefer the name vampire and pirate.”
“Both archaic.”
She pressed her hands to his chest and pushed. Andros let a smile curve his mouth. Didn’t she realise her effort only fed him? Her energy flowed in an exquisite slide into his waiting flesh and his fingers teased the thin fabric of her suit, resisting his need to tear it from her body to expose her bare skin. There would be time enough for that in his cabin. “You’re…innocent. Unshipped. You have no idea what I am.”
He stepped back and the leech metal in him almost growled at the loss of her power. Andros ignored the sudden rush of fire and pain biting into his flesh. His hunger would be satisfied soon enough. “Until your masters pay the ransom. You’re mine.”