"True Blood." She narrowed her eyes and waited for me to jump on that one.
"I'm hotter than those fuckers," I said with a smirk.
"Possibly." She grinned back. "Favorite place in the world?"
"Right here. Right now," I said and waited for her to make her escape.
She looked away and the color in her cheeks heightened. "Too personal," she whispered. "Too fast. Hardest thing to kill?"
I would play it her way because she was correct. My plan was to make her fall for me permanently, not run away again. "Trolls," I said firmly. "Or possibly Gnomes."
"I haven't had the pleasure of fighting either one of those," she said as she rotated her hips beneath mine.
My eyes rolled back in my head and I bit down on my lip to keep from coming. "It's not a pleasure. Trust me on that one." My lips found the spot on her neck that made her whimper.
"Truth or dare?" she asked hoarsely as I made my way down her body toward the auburn curls between her legs.
"Dare," I said as I flicked my tongue over her most sensitive parts.
Her hips jerked and I held her firmly in my hands so I could have my fill and make her beg. The beginnings of her orgasm made me slow down. I was going to make her work for it. Prolonged anticipation—prolonged pleasure.
"I dare you to stare into my eyes when we fuck," she said recklessly as she writhed under my lips.
"That's kind of personal, Red," I said gruffly, loving the thought.
"You're right. I take it back," she recanted quickly.
"Nope, a dare is a dare and I accept," I said as I moved with Vampyre speed back up her body, licking and nipping every place that I wanted. "Truth or dare, Princess?"
"Dare," she gasped out as I positioned myself at her entrance and teased her with the swollen head of my cock. She was so wet and ready I almost forgot to play the game.
"I dare you to make love with me. No fucking," I challenged.
Her body stiffened and she tried to turn away. I was having none of it.
Taking her chin in my hand I forced her to see me. "I want you to know it's me inside of your body. I want you to watch what you do to me—what you have done to me for two hundred goddamned years and I want to watch you come apart in my arms. I want my name on your lips when you come and I want… "
"You want too much," she ground out as she began to struggle. "You can't have everything—no one can. Let my body be enough for you."
"I can’t. I want all of you," I hissed as I pushed the head of my cock into her. She tightened around me like a vise and it took every ounce of control not to bury myself to the hilt in her body. "I want what's inside and what's outside. I need everything."
"I don't have it to give," she cried out as she rocked and took more of me into her.
"Tell me that you want me," I demanded as I held my body still with gargantuan effort. "Tell me that you recognize me as your mate. Let me in."
She tilted her head and tears filled her eyes. I lowered my lips to hers and kissed her with such tenderness that I felt a sting in my own eyes. My hands splayed her rib cage and I cradled her curves reverently.
The deep-seated ache in my balls was painful, but I wanted her to see me. I needed her to see us. Whether she admitted it or not, it had always been this way when we came together. Our bodies and souls recognized each other as one.
"Why, Raquel? Tell me why."
She closed her eyes and put her hands over them. "I recognize you, Heathcliff," she whispered brokenly. "I have always recognized you."
My chest tightened. The light at the end of the tunnel was dim, but at least it was there. "You're mine," I said as I took her hands off her face and trapped them over her head. "Say it. Stop destroying both of us."
"I can't."
"Can't or won't?" I demanded angrily. How in the fuck could she deny what was meant to be?
Her mouth moved wordlessly and I tried to enter her mind, but she blocked me. I read her lips, but I wanted to make her say it. I needed to hear it even if it devastated me.
"Say it," I ground out.
"Both," she yelled. "I can't and I won't," she said harshly as tears poured from her eyes. "It's not you. It's me."
"Jesus Christ," I muttered as I rolled off of her onto my back and stared sightlessly at the ceiling of my bedroom. "We're not in high school. This isn't a crush. You're my mate—the other half of my soul. You are slowly killing me—killing us."
"I'm broken," she whispered. "I won't break you too."
"Is that really your decision to make?" I asked without looking at her. It was too difficult.
"It has to be," she said woodenly as she rose from the bed and gathered her clothes.
"No," I countered harshly. "It doesn't have to be this way. You know I'm your mate and I know you're mine. It's not complicated. You. Are. Mine."
She stared at me sadly and shook her head. "Even if I explain, you won't understand. You’ll never see things the way I do."
"God damn it, just give me the chance. You owe me that."
"No," she whispered as part of me broke for good.
She turned away and began to dress. I longed to run my hands over her smooth skin. I wanted to squeeze this elusive secret out of her, but I knew it wouldn't work. She'd kept it close to her chest for over two hundred years. One would think I'd learned my lesson by now. It was time to force myself to swallow it and move on. I was dying inside and I was letting it happen because I wouldn't let her go. Fate was a bitch and I hated her.