Free EcstasyEntwined by Ju Dimello

understood what he
meant. And she wanted to be his. She’d liked Gregory as a friend, had enjoyed
his sexual innuendoes and now melted under his strong touch. Somewhere along
the line, he’d not only breached her defenses, but touched her heart as well.
    One question still clamored for her attention and she
hesitated, wondering how to ask him.
    His steady gaze didn’t waver from her face. “Go on, ask me.”
    Was she really that easy to read? “If you drink my blood,
will I turn into a vampire?”
    “No.”
    “That’s possible though?”
    He smirked. “Why? Are you offering to become one?”
    “Gregory!” She swatted his arm and waited, wondering if he’d
avoid a reply.
    He placed a soft kiss on her nose and adjusted himself
before answering. “The blood-exchange is as detrimental to the vampire as to
the human they’re converting. No one would dare attempt it—they haven’t in
decades.”
    His expression took on a faraway cast as he continued, “We
don’t want to upset the natural balance of nature by creating more vampires or
by killing humans.”
    And attract attention in the process , she completed.
Made sense. In a similar way, she’d avoided contact with others to keep herself
away from harm. A self-preservation instinct, to survive.
    “Are you sure no harm will come to you by—by fucking me?”
    “You’re the only person who can keep my hunger under wraps,
satiate my lust. And I’m not spouting nonsense to get into your panties. Though
I’d eventually love to,” he replied with a wink.
    Suddenly his fangs didn’t seem as terrifying as the hopes
crashing within her, roaring to be heard.
    She hadn’t had a single person who really cared for her as
an individual, apart from her long-dead parents.
    Had it been a couple of centuries already?
    Memories were all she had to cherish. Her father, a human
who possessed the rare ability to resist a siren’s voice, had apparently wooed
and married her mother. Elena had been eighteen when her father passed away and
her mother had died of heartbreak, leaving her alone in the world.
    As a young woman with dreams of happily ever afters, she’d
learned her lesson the hard way when everyone she spoke to became enamored by
her, unable to resist the allure.
    Some even tried to force her, and any protests she made only
inflamed them more. Whatever happened wasn’t their fault. Having only her voice
to blame, she’d learned to defend herself soon enough.
    In time, she’d learned to pretend.
    People seemed more compassionate to a dumb-girl, drifting
through town. And she’d done every odd job she could, learning by night,
keeping pace with the changing world. She’d always enjoyed handcrafting and
creativity. Her small home business had expanded and technology had helped her.
    She’d convinced herself she had been satisfied. Not anymore.
    She wet her lips, watched his dark eyes glint and fixate on
her tongue. “Can I ask you something?”
    His head whipped up and he grinned. “Sure. I have a question
for you as well. But you go first.”
    “How is it, being a vampire? How did you become one?”
     
    Gregory stared for a few seconds, at a loss for words to
answer her.
    The darkness pulsed as potent as a live thing inside his
head, but being near her calmed him down to some extent. As soon as his arousal
increased, the monster threatened to overtake his common sense. He hoped once he
fucked her, the dark part of him would recede. But he needed to alleviate her
fears first, earn the trust she’d given him so freely.
    He sat cross-legged beside her on the bed, moving to play
with her breasts. She swatted his hand away and fixed him with a glare.
    He blew her an air-kiss, trying to sort out his jumbled
thoughts. He’d been a warrior once, bloodied in a battle, just as his then
beloved feared. On the cusp of death, he’d been converted into a vampire. When
he regained his senses, he was appalled to find the truth—
    “My lover had not only been a vampire,