He pierces my skin, sending me into the hardest climax ever. I come with a shattering cry, shocked at the bolt of intense pain-pleasure that comes with his fangs. They’re buried in the sensitive pink flesh surrounding my clit, and he takes the most careful of sips from me before dragging his tongue over the spot to seal the tiny wounds. He laps at my pussy, over and over again, as I quiver from the shock waves of my orgasm. By the time my muscles unclench, I’m gasping as if I’ve run a marathon, and I’ve never felt better. Dimly, I’m aware of my leg hooked over his shoulder, his hands gripping my hips. He presses another kiss to my pussy, and his eyes are bright red with want.

“That was . . .” I trail off, because how can I describe it without using words like “earth shattering” and “angels just fell from heaven” and corny things like that?

“Not enough? Greedy woman.” He nuzzles the inside of my thigh once more and then eases my leg down to the floor. It feels like jelly. “Very well.”

His hand goes to my chin and he tilts my face up. Vlad kisses me tenderly, and I taste myself on him. I feel loose and incredible, but when I skim my hand to the back of his neck and pull him close, I can feel the tension vibrating through him. Only one of us has gotten to come. I want him inside me. I want to share this with him, too.

I run my hand down one hard, muscled arm. “Do you know how to do this next part?”

He arches a brow at me even as he pulls my hips against his. With one easy motion, he flicks the belt of his loincloth free, and the fabric pools at our feet. His cock’s as big as I expected, with all kinds of fascinating ridges trailing up his length. Talk about “made for her pleasure.” I bite back a moan as he hooks my knee to his hip, pressing my throbbing pussy against his shaft.

He’s scorching hot, and as he leans in toward me, he gives me a wicked look. “I bet I can figure out how it works. I put the part of me that aches into the part of you that aches.”

“Th-that . . . that’s about it, yeah.” I whimper as he takes one hand and drags his length through my juices, and I’m not sure if he’s lubricating his cock or just figuring things out. I reach between us to help things along, and he thrusts into me, the movement sharp in its pleasure. I expected this, of course, but I didn’t expect it to feel so good that my brain feels as if it’s going to melt and come out of my ears.

I murmur gaspy words of encouragement, clinging to him as he pushes deeper into me. The tension in his big body is practically vibrating all through the pod. The cords of his neck stand out, and his mouth is a taut line.

“You okay?” I ask, reaching up to stroke his cheek.

His hips flex, and he buries himself a little deeper inside me. The movement’s so small it almost seems involuntary. “Feels . . . incredible. Dana, you feel so good.”

“I want you to feel good, too. I want you to lose control, Vlad. Take what you need.”

I gasp as he surges deep into me, pressing me back against the supplies. I angle my hips slightly, adjusting our bodies, and then we’re moving together in a frantic rhythm. He instinctively knows how to move, despite this being his first time, and being with him feels so very right, so perfect, like we were destined to come together like this. Corny, maybe, but it’s absolutely how I feel.

The pleasure intensifies with each thrust of his cock, as if something deep inside me is being brought forward. Another orgasm, I suspect, this one deeper and threatening to be far more powerful. I whimper, chasing the sensation and moving against him with more force, more need, more everything.

Vlad closes his eyes, his fangs bared as he pumps into me, and I suddenly know what he needs.

“Bite me,” I pant. “Bite me while you’re deep inside me.”

He needs no convincing. He hitches me up higher, until he can scrape his teeth against the top of my neck. His cock is barely in me at this point, but neither of us cares. There’s the sweetest piercing sensation, then hot bliss as the orgasm rolls through me with all the subtlety of a supernova. I clench around him, crying out and desperately holding on to him as I come. Dimly, I’m aware that he’s growling even as he fucks me, and I realize he’s coming, too.

“Yes,” I breathe, and it’s like we’re one in this moment.

We remain locked together, shuddering in the aftermath of our shared climax. I’m vaguely aware of my back still pressed to the tightly packed wall of bags in the pod, and at some point, both of my legs have gone around Vlad’s hips. He keeps me braced in place, and it feels as if we’re touching everywhere. I feel warm and safe and so damn good.

And happy. For the first time in what feels like a very, very long time, I’m happy.

I touch his face, stroking his cheek. He lifts heavy, hooded eyes to me, and the red of his gaze is mixed with deep black, his pupils huge. I stroke him with my thumb, feeling the need to say something in this moment. Of all the feelings in the past week that have been bubbling up inside me. I want him to know how he makes me feel. That when I’m with him, I no longer fear the universe. I no longer fear the future and what it may hold. That we understand each other, better than anyone else might. That we fit together. “Vlad . . .”

“Yes, Dana?” His gaze moves over my face.

His firm mouth is tinged with blood, a hint of his fangs peeking out between his lips. Strangely enough, that makes him even more beautiful in my eyes. I want to kiss that blood away, only for him to sip it from my mouth once more. I want to kiss him again.

I’ll want to kiss him for the next fifty or a hundred years. “I need to tell you—”

A crackling chirp sounds over the ship’s intercom. “Ship approaching,” the station computer says in a cool, monotone voice. “Estimated arrival, one hour.”

My eyes widen. Cold floods through my body. “They’re back. We have to go.”

Immediately, Vlad moves. He pulls back, gently setting my legs on the floor again, and the heated wetness of his release trickles down my thighs. He reaches for his discarded loincloth, his ear cocked to the ship’s sound system as the voice chimes again in warning. Vlad’s tense now, as if sensing time slipping away. “If we hurry, we can fit more food in the pod—”

“What? No! Let’s just go!” I grab his arm before he can even think of hurrying off to try to get more supplies. “The only way I can override this pod is if the ship is still in emergency mode. The moment they dock and turn off the alerts, we’re going nowhere.”

He hesitates. Glances at the doors to the pod.

“Trust me on this,” I say, digging my nails into his arm. “Unless we unhook and go now, we won’t get another chance. We’ve still got time to get out of here.”

Vlad gazes at me, searching my face. I know what he’s thinking. If I’m wrong about any of this—about overriding the pod, about having enough food for me (and therefore both of us), if I can’t chart a path to this Cassa system—we’re both dead. It’s a big ask for someone who’s just had their first taste of freedom, and I’m well aware of it.

We stare at each other in silence.

After another moment, he nods. “Let’s go, then. Show me how to unhook the pod.”

Hours later, I’m sitting in Vlad’s lap, watching the screens to ensure that no one’s following us. I haven’t relaxed since we left, imagining that I’m going to see a ship on the horizon, chasing after us. So far, though, nothing.

It’s all gone smoothly. There’s a small part of me that thinks it’s too smoothly, but I know the arrogance of these scientists. They’re never going to imagine that we’re charting a course to escape them for good. They’re going to assume that we’ve escaped, sure, but they’re also going to think that the pod will drift in space until it’s picked up, and then they can retrieve their cargo. They won’t realize that we’ve routed for a different destination from the default . . . until it’s too late.