BOUND BY BLOOD

Chapter 2

Bound by Blood

Heat.

It pulsed under my skin, deeper than lust, hotter than fire. My body ached, every nerve alive with a craving so fierce it felt like starvation.

I gasped awake, my sheets damp with sweat, my pulse hammering in my throat. The room was unfamiliar—vast, shadowed, and laced with the scent of something dark and masculine. Damien.

Memory slammed into me like a violent tide.

The night before. The bar. His hands on me. His fangs sinking into my neck.

I jerked upright. My breath came in frantic gulps, my fingers flying to my throat. The skin there was smooth, but the mark burned like an invisible brand.

"Awake already?"

His voice slid through the darkness, a low, velvety hum that set my pulse racing.

Damien leaned against the doorway, his body a masterpiece of restrained power. He had discarded his suit jacket, his black shirt unbuttoned at the top, revealing a hint of his sculpted chest. His dark eyes gleamed in the dim light, amusement curling his lips.

"What the hell did you do to me?" I demanded, shoving the sheets away.

He didn't move, but I felt his presence curl around me like an invisible chain. "You know what I did."

"You marked me!" My voice shook with fury—and something else. Something I didn't want to name.

He tilted his head, watching me. "Yes."

My blood boiled. "You had no right."

A slow, wicked smile. "And yet, I did it anyway."

I was on my feet in an instant, rage and something dangerously close to hunger colliding inside me. "Undo it. Right now."

He let out a low chuckle. "That's not how this works, little one."

I opened my mouth to curse him, but the second I stepped closer, something inside me shifted.

A rush of heat swept through me so suddenly I gasped, my knees almost buckling. My breath hitched as an invisible force coiled through my veins, spreading like wildfire.

And then—

Visions.

Flashes of Damien. His hands gripping my waist. His mouth devouring mine. My back arching, his body buried inside me, pleasure so intense it shattered me.

I felt it. Every sensation, every thrust, as if he were touching me right now. My skin burned, my thighs clenched, my nipples hardened against my thin nightgown.

"What… is this?" I gasped, trembling.

Damien's gaze darkened with hunger, but he remained infuriatingly composed. "The bond."

I shook my head, trying to fight the onslaught of desire curling through me. "No. I didn't agree to this."

"You didn't have to," he said, stepping closer. "My bite sealed the connection. Now, your body recognizes mine. It craves mine."

I squeezed my eyes shut, desperate to block out the erotic visions. But it was useless. Every breath I took was filled with him.

I wanted to claw at my own skin, rip the need from my veins, but the second Damien touched me—

Fire.

The moment his fingers brushed my wrist, pleasure exploded through me. My head snapped back, a moan ripping from my lips as my body betrayed me.

Damien cursed, his grip tightening as I swayed against him.

"Let me go," I whispered, though my body was already arching into his.

"You don't want me to." His voice was raw now, strained. "The bond won't let you."

I hated him.

I hated how he was right.

Damien's fingers traced down my bare arm, and I felt it everywhere—my thighs clenched, my breath shuddered, an unbearable ache coiled between my legs.

"Stop fighting it," he murmured.

I shoved at his chest, but my traitorous body only pressed closer. "I won't belong to you."

His jaw clenched, his own struggle evident in the tightness of his muscles, the way his breath came hard and fast. "You already do."

And then—

His lips crashed against mine.

It wasn't gentle. It was raw, a battle of dominance and surrender, of fury and desire tangled so tight I couldn't tell them apart.

Damien's hands found my waist, lifting me, pinning me against the nearest wall. My legs wrapped around his hips, my body moving against his with a need so consuming I could barely think.

Our clothes vanished between fevered touches. My nails raked down his back as he thrust into me, a sharp cry spilling from my lips at the sheer pleasure of it.

The bond roared to life, tightening around us, forcing us deeper, harder, closer.

Every movement sent waves of unbearable ecstasy through me, my body responding to him in ways I couldn't control. I hated him. I wanted him. I needed to break free.

I came undone around him, my release ripping through me like wildfire. But even as I trembled, even as my body begged for more—

A cold, sharp presence slammed into the room.

A second later, the window shattered.

I barely had time to scream before a figure lunged from the darkness, a blur of speed and violence.

Damien moved.

One second, he was inside me; the next, he was a force of raw power, shoving me behind him as an assassin's blade slashed through the air.

A vampire.

Pale. Fast. Eyes filled with murderous intent.

The intruder's snarl filled the space as Damien caught the blade mid-swing, twisting it with effortless strength. Bones snapped. The assassin hissed in pain.

Damien's voice was a deadly growl. "You dare come for what's mine?"

The assassin ignored him, his gaze cutting to me. "She is unclaimed. The bond is unfinished." His voice was a rasp of hunger. "She can still be taken."

Fear slammed through me.

Damien's rage turned lethal. "Over my dead body."

The assassin lunged.

I barely had time to react before the room exploded into chaos.