Free Her Vampire Mate by Tabitha Conall Page B

words were becoming increasingly garbled but he could still make them out.
    All right then. He lifted his hips and resumed, pushing into her harder and faster with each stroke. He felt the buzzing hum that preceded a damn good orgasm and thrust faster, while at the same time trying to hold on just a little longer, just long enough to make sure her orgasm was earth-shattering.
    With some difficulty, Antonio slid his hand between their bodies so he could rub the topmost nub of her clit. Her cries and moans were worth any trouble.
    Her grip on him got tighter. “Coming.” She sunk her teeth into his shoulder.
    He saw stars. Stars and an inky blackness that swept away everything except the pulsing beat of his heart and the pleasure that consumed him. He was barely aware of the fluids rushing out of him, bathing her core. All he knew was the pleasure invading every cell of his body and Jennalynn, Jennalynn, Jennalynn.

 
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 9
     
    As Jennalynn pulled her teeth out of Antonio’s shoulder following the most explosive orgasm of her life, she couldn’t stop the doubts from pouring in. What the hell had she done?
    In the moment, biting him had felt like the most natural thing in the world. And she knew in the long run it wouldn’t matter—she was done for whether he wore her mark or not. But still, it seemed wrong to bite him when he hadn’t really agreed to be hers. Even if he had agreed to the bite itself.
    He brushed the hair off her face. “What are you thinking so hard about?”
    “I’m thinking you might be a little bit nuts.”
    He laughed. “Is that so?”
    “I know why I want to mark you. I don’t have any idea why you’d allow it.”
    His fingers traced her cheek with a feather-light touch. “It felt right.”
    “But you don’t know if you even want me. How could you allow yourself to be bitten?”
    “Bellissima, I most definitely want you. As I said, it felt right.”
    Had she mated a madman? “Aren’t you at all concerned? Other vampires will smell me on you.”
    “I hadn’t thought of that. But it doesn’t matter. I’m ruled by my heart not my head. My heart said to let you bite me, so I did. I don’t question it.”
    A madman indeed. She tried to push herself up on her elbows but the way he lay half on top of her kept her from moving. “How can you not question it?”
    He rubbed her temple with the fingers that continued to move over her face. “Those are the words of someone ruled by her head. These days, the Western culture values the head over the heart. Your words make sense to most of your compatriots. But it was not always so.”
    And he was very, very old, though he looked no older than she did. “And you’ve always been this way?”
    “I have.”
    “How do you manage it? Certainly when you’re doing your work, you need to be in control of your emotions.”
    “We’re talking about two different things. I’m saying that when I make a decision I let my heart lead me. I’m not saying that I can’t control my emotions. Sometimes I chose not to control my emotions, but that’s still a choice.”
    She watched his face as he continued to study her with his fingers, running the tips of them over every freckle, every tiny line, every dip and indentation on her face. She could love this man.
    The thought terrified her.
    ***
    While there were plenty of dives in Chicago, the number that catered to humans in any obvious way was much smaller. Not the ones that turned the music up just loud enough to hurt non-human ears. But the ones that had signage just this side of racist. Instead of “humans only” they said things like “especially for humans.” While Jennalynn didn’t like seeing the signs at all, the small number of them made it a little easier.
    So in the early morning after hours of visiting dives, they ended up at a place called Dante’s. There were a surprising amount of people there considering the hour—the place was at least a quarter full. They