Witch Unbound by Debbie Cassidy

Chapter Six

“Are you insane?” Jessie stared at me in horror. “You know how Sloane feels about you. How she loses control.”

“Yeah, I’m counting on that. She won’t be able to resist, and she’ll have to feed.”

“And she could kill you,” Jessie pointed out.

“She won’t, because you guys will be there to stop her if she gets carried away.”

Poppy and Jessie exchanged glances. They were considering it.

But then Jessie tucked in her chin and shook her head. “We can’t risk the anchor’s life.”

“We can’t risk Sloane’s either. The Elites are important. She’s important.”

“I say we do this,” Bramble said. “Get her to feed and then force her to stop. You guys have magic, so we use that.”

“We have to, Jess,” Poppy said softly.

Jessie made a sound of exasperation. “Fine. Let’s do this.”

I knocked on Sloane’s bedroom door and she answered a minute later. She had a washcloth in her hand, and I caught the scent of mint. Mouthwash? Toothpaste?

Her eyes widened at the sight of me. “No. Hell no. You need to go.”

I slipped past her into the room and the others followed.

“You need to feed,” Jessie said. “We’re here to make sure you do.”

Sloane let out a bark of laughter. “Are you deaf? How many times do I have to say it? I’d rather fucking die than feed on a living person.”

“Bit selfish, don’t you think?” Bramble said. “You’re an Elite. The first line of defense between the revenants and humans, and you want to die rather than drink a little blood and be able to do your job?”

Sloane’s jaw ticked. “What? So you line up like a fucking buffet, is that it? You think you can tempt me? Break me?” She squared her shoulders.

“No.” I stepped forward. “Not them. Just me. I want you to feed on me.”

Her attention zeroed in on me, pupils dilating, mouth parting. I caught the delicate flare of her nostrils and the quickening of her breath, but then she closed her eyes and took a step back.

“Not happening, Cupcake.”

My stomach flipped at her use of my nickname. I took a step toward her and she held her ground, head turned away from me, breathing shallow and fast.

“Sloane, you know you want me.”

“We don’t always get what we want.” Her breathing evened out, and she turned her head to look at me flatly. “I’m not going to feed off you, Cora. So get out.”

Why wasn’t this working? She was obviously hungry. She hadn’t been able to feed at all, so her body was craving blood. I’d seen how she’d responded to me out in the hall the other night, and that was when she hadn’t been starved.

So, what was different?

She gave herself away when her gaze flicked to the others standing behind me. Ah, of course. The room was saturated with different scents. She was focusing on them, not me. She was using them to block me out.

Yeah. Time to change the game. I glanced over my shoulder. “Guys, you need to go.”

“What?” Jessie recoiled. “That wasn’t the plan.”

“Trust me.” I looked to Bramble for support. “Please.”

Bramble looked torn and then exhaled heavily. “Come on. Cora’s got this. Let’s go.”

“No.” Sloane took a step forward, but I moved to block her.

“You stay.”

She glared at me, pupils dilating.

Yep, I’d read her right.

“Cora, this is dangerous.” Jessie looked torn.

“It is,” Sloane said. “You need to leave. Now. All of you. Get her out of here.”

No way was I budging. “And then what? You’ll stay in this room by yourself forever? Starve to death, is that it?”

She growled and fisted her hair. “Dammit, Cora, I can’t fucking think with you so close.”

Sloane was losing control.

I looked to Jessie. “I can do this. Please.”

Jessie closed her eyes and nodded. Bramble didn’t give The Elites a chance to change their minds, manhandling them out of the room and closing the door.

Sloane shook her head and backed up against the wall. “Fuck, Cora. You smell so fucking good.”

I shrugged. “I know. You want to taste?” She moaned low in the back of her throat as I approached. “I trust you, and you need to trust yourself. Take what you need.” I stopped a foot from her and tilted my head to the side, exposing my neck.

My pulse pounded, heart battering my ribcage. I’d been bitten before, fed on and almost drained, so I knew the pain that came with it. I should have run the other way, but this was Sloane, and I wouldn’t walk away from her.

Her chest rose and fell, hard and fast. “Cora, I don’t want to be this thing.”

“I know.” I looked into her eyes, then reached up and cupped her face. Her skin was cold. Too cold. She needed my blood and warmth. “But it is what it is, Sloane, and we need you, so you need to do this to be able to stay with us. Do you understand?”

Her gaze dropped to my mouth. “What if I can’t stop?”

“Then I’ll make you stop.” I ran my thumb over her lips.

She groaned and closed her eyes, mouth parting as her fangs pushed out of her gums. The sigh that kissed my skin was pure relief, as if she’d been holding back and could now finally let go. It was terrifying and fucking sexy as hell at the same time because this was Sloane, and I knew deep in my gut that she would rather die than hurt me.

I leaned in so our lips were mere inches apart. “You can do this.” And then I kissed her softly, careful of her fangs.

She inhaled me deeply, then something inside her seemed to snap. With a vibrating growl, she grabbed me and shoved me against the wall. My eyes popped wide, fear leaping up my throat despite my better intentions.

“Sloane.”

She pressed her body to mine, hard and soft at the same time, and the fear morphed to something hot and eager.

“I’m going to bite you now, Cora.” She licked the column of my neck, making a primal sound in the back of her throat that teased the fear back to life. It mingled with the throbbing desire that had taken over my body. “Stop me. Promise you’ll stop me.” Her lips kissed my skin.

I closed my eyes, as if that could block out the agony to come. “I promise.”

Pain was a burn slicing into my neck. I bit back a scream, writhing against her in an effort to quell the agony as her fangs penetrated my artery. The first tug was an inferno in my blood, surging up as if it wanted to burrow out of my skin. A cry slipped from my lips. I grabbed her hips, fingers digging in to hold myself together as she took another drag.

Oh, God. I couldn’t stand it. I couldn’t, but even as I thought it, the burn ebbed, and a simmering heat took its place. My head grew light and my limbs lethargic. Sloane moaned against my skin, mouth tugging at my life blood in slow, deep pulls, then her thigh slipped between mine, rubbing against my core, and a different kind of heat began to bloom between us.

The world grew fuzzy and light. My head felt like a cloud, but my body was anchored by the throbbing wetness between my thighs that begged for something. A distant part of me blared a warning. Time to stop.

But I wasn’t in control of my body. My hips moved against her thigh, my breasts swelled against hers, and every brush of our bodies sent tingling shockwaves across my skin.

Stop. She needed to—

Her hand slid into the waistband of my jeggings and her fingers found the source of my hunger, dipping into the wetness and sliding back and forth over my clit.

Sounds filled the room. Hungry, desperate gasps. Me? This was me.

Heat lapped at my neck, then Sloane claimed my mouth in a deep, tongue-thrusting kiss that echoed the movement of her fingers inside me.

I sucked on her coppery tongue, not caring that I was tasting my blood, because the only thing that mattered was the place she was taking me with her hand down my pants.

She kissed me like I was the last molecule of air, breathing with me, for me, until I wasn’t sure where she stopped and I began. I came hard, hips jerking against her hand, and she swallowed my cries eagerly.

We remained lip-locked for long minutes as I rode the orgasm she wouldn’t allow to quit, until it edged on the verge of pain and I was whispering for her to stop. Enough. No more.

Only then did she pull back her hand and break the kiss.

Her electric-blue eyes were almost all pupil as she raked her gaze over my face. “Cora…” Her tone was husky and thick with desire.

I licked my lips. “Sloane…”

She pressed her forehead to mine. “Dammit, woman. There’s no going back now.”

No, there wasn’t. Not for either of us.