Yet all she could do was continue respond to the rhythm of his hips as his cock plunged into her without pausing.

What would it be like if he bit her, if he drank her blood? Would it be the same pain she’d gone through once before? Would she fight him?

Her hand trembled when she reached for his face and extended a finger toward his mouth. Quinn stopped his movements, went entirely still, his erection remaining lodged deep inside her. He opened his mouth wider, allowing her better access.

Cautiously, she touched one fang with the pad of her index finger.

Quinn’s eyes squeezed shut, a moan issuing from his throat. “Oh, God!”

When he opened his eyes an instant later, the golden shimmer had faded into a dark red, the sign that he was all vampire now, controlled by his animal instincts.

The sight should have made her pull back, but instead it filled her with excitement. She had done that to him by touching his fang.

Stroking over his elongated canine once more, she took in the smooth texture of his tooth, the sharpness of its tip. Such a deadly instrument. Was it true what he’d said to her at the party? That his bite could deliver pleasure?

“I’m scared,” she whispered.

He closed his eyes, clearly trying to get himself under control. “I won’t do it if you say no.”

Even though she recognized the sincerity in his voice, she sensed his disappointment. It made her own heart ache with emptiness. As if she’d lost something all over again.

Determined not to push him away, she pressed the fleshy part of her finger against his fang, allowing it to pierce her skin.

Quinn’s eyes flew open, his nostrils flaring as he took in the scent of her blood.

“Rose, you don’t have to . . .”

She pulled her finger from him, then smeared the drops of blood that dripped from it over the vein on her neck. Breathing heavily, excitement colliding with the remnants of her fear, she locked eyes with him.

“I want to give you everything you need.”

Lust and love poured from his eyes in equal measures.

“I’ll be gentle.”

She nodded, bracing herself for the pain. If this was what he wanted, she would give it to him. She couldn’t disappoint him.

First his lips brushed over her neck, then his tongue licked the blood off her skin. She heard him inhale as he swallowed.

“Oh, Rose, I’ve never tasted anything better in my life.”

The words drove tears into her eyes, and she had difficulty holding them back. She stiffened when his fangs scraped against her skin.

“I love you,” he murmured, then his fangs pressed deeper, piercing her skin, driving into her flesh.

At first, it felt like somebody had pricked her finger with a toothpick. There was no pain. Relief flooded her instantly. He hadn’t lied to her. This was not the brutal bite with which she had been brought into the world of vampires, this was a gentle kiss, a loving caress.

As her body relaxed in his embrace, she suddenly felt the pull on her vein. Bolts of energy raced through her body, shooting through her veins like hot lava, making her body burn from the inside. But this was no angry, destroying fire; this was life-giving, passionate, and consuming.

“Yes,” she whispered, pulling him closer.

She felt how Quinn resumed plunging his cock in and out of her, his movements measured, with every withdrawal making her yearn for him, with every thrust back inside, rubbing over her clit. His bite was a passionate kiss just like he’d promised earlier, but he’d neglected to mention just where she would feel that kiss. His fangs in her neck made her feel as if he were licking her clit with his tongue while his cock was filling her. Anatomically impossible, yet the sensation was the same. Nothing had ever felt this way.

Why had she been so afraid of this for so long?

As she let herself fall in his arms, allowing his caresses to sweep her away on a cloud of utter bliss, she knew that she would never be able to live without him. Now that she understood what he could make her body feel, the sensations he could awaken in her, she could never turn back.

When his thrusts became faster, she felt him pull his fangs from her neck and lick over the tiny incisions. Then he looked at her, perspiration running down his chest in little rivulets.

“I can’t even tell you what this means to me . . . Rose, I don’t know how to ever thank you for this gift.”

She felt tears threaten to overwhelm her, but forced them back. She’d never carried her emotions this close to the surface.

“I know a way you can thank me. Make me come.”

He let out a groan. “Oh, Rose, I don’t deserve you.”