He sucked hard and raked my nipple with his teeth the way I liked it. He gave the other breast the same attention, not stopping until I was squirming and moaning once more. “Jared” I gasped as I was roughly flipped onto my stomach. Looking back at him over my shoulder, I scowled. “Oi!”

He just smiled, licking along my spine. I knew that impish look – it meant that the teasing still wasn’t over. Just as he had to my front, he traced the dips and hollows of my back with his tongue, occasionally pausing to deliver a sharp nip.

“The downside to you healing instantly is that I can’t mark you.” He licked the curve of my shoulder. “I want you all marked up.” His teeth sank into my shoulder just as two fingers plunged inside me. Swallow. Thrust. Swallow. Thrust – the rhythm was driving me insane. Just when I was ready to start cursing him, he withdrew his finger and his teeth, and flipped me onto my back. He loomed over me, his face a mask of utter resolve. One hand scrunched in my hair while the other gripped my hip.

I smiled into piercing hazel eyes that were huge pools of need. “Good evening.”

Jared’s sensual mouth curved. “Happy birthday, baby.” Then he slammed home, wrenching a gasp out of me; I was so wet that he was balls-deep in just one thrust. We both groaned as my muscles clamped around him. He didn’t give me a moment to adjust, and I hadn’t wanted him to. Instead, he tightened his grip on my hip and began ruthlessly pounding into me. “You feel so f**king good, Sam.”

Locking my limbs around him, I scratched at his back and arched to meet his thrusts. Each one was hard, fast, and powerful; making me feel totally and utterly taken. His pace was relentless and frantic, building the friction inside me. But I wanted more of him.

Reading my body well, he hooked my legs over his shoulders and shifted his angle, going even deeper. “I need your mouth,” he growled, curling over me.

I reached up to meet his kiss. It was as dominant and possessive and drugging as always. I drew his tongue into my mouth and sucked on it, smiling at the throaty groan that escaped him.

“Bite me.”

I raked my teeth over his shoulder and then bit down, drinking deep and loving the masculine, spicy taste of his blood. He upped his speed as the effects of my Sventé saliva fed the tension building in him – I could actually feel his orgasm approaching, and it was speeding along my own.

“Come with me,” he breathed. Then he groaned as he buried his face in the crook of my neck and bit down hard. With each gulp of blood that he swallowed, my body wound that much tighter until after only mere seconds I exploded around him with a scream. His teeth sank deeper as my body milked him, shoving him into his own climax.

Finally his teeth released my neck and he delivered a sensual lick to the swiftly healing bite. “I don’t know how it is that you make me come so hard, but I’m not complaining.”

I chuckled. “Right back at you, Michaels.”

He let my legs fall from his shoulders and nipped my bottom lip. “As you already found your gifts, I don’t have any birthday surprises for you,” he grumbled.

“That’s okay. I don’t like surprises. So, um, did you teleport the gifts back here?” I asked casually. He wasn’t fooled.

Shaking his head, he sighed. “You can’t wait to get back to that game, can you?”

“It’s addictive!”

“I thought you might like it…since it features lots of violence, gore, and combat.”

“My character has more depth than that, you know,” I snapped playfully.

“Hmm. I guess I should let you get back to your game before you seriously hurt me.”

I clapped a little. “Yay!” I literally shoved him off me as I jumped out of bed and dashed into the bathroom. A few minutes later, clean and feeling refreshed, I rushed into the living area. His throaty laugh followed me. As I’d expected, the PlayStation 6 was waiting there nicely, along with a stack of Stephen King books and the box that I knew contained a gorgeous pair of diamond earrings. But there was something else, too: it was small-ish, rectangular, and gift-wrapped. Sensing Jared behind me, I turned and arched a questioning brow. He just smiled mischievously and lounged on the sofa.

Well. I normally detested surprises, but I was strangely excited as I retrieved the gift from the table. It was roughly the size of a DVD…or a video game, I quickly realised. I tore off the wrapping paper. Then I could only gawk. No, this seriously couldn’t be what it seemed. It just wasn’t possible. The gift was in fact a video game, but it wasn’t one I’d ever seen before. It was called ‘The Hollow’…and it was actually a game based on The Hollow. Fascinated and stunned, I gave Jared a ‘what the f**k?’ look.

His smile widened. “I wanted to get you something that you would never have guessed in a million years; something unique. I had a team of people working on this, including vampires whose gift is technology-based. As you can see, you have the option of playing as different people within The Hollow – including me, you, and members of the squad. They each have the gifts, strengths, and weaknesses in the game that they do in real life. Even Dexter’s in it. There are lots of potential assignments and mysteries. The special effects are absolutely amazing. You could even think of this game as a method of training in” He grunted as I suddenly dived on him. “Does this mean you like it?”

Straddling him, I kissed him hard. “I bloody love it. I noticed that one of the ‘baddies’ in the game is Magda. This means I get to kill her over and over again, doesn’t it?” At his nod, I was so touched I almost cried. “This is the sweetest, most thoughtful thing that anyone has ever given me.” He laughed, and I wrapped my arms around him. “Thank you.”

When I finally pulled back, he slid a hand under my hair and squeezed my nape as he tugged my face to his. He sucked my bottom lip into his mouth, coaxing a contented sigh from me. Then his tongue boldly swept inside, stroking mine, as his hands slid down my back to cup my arse. Releasing my mouth, he just stared at me…like he was drinking me in, like it was perfectly normal and acceptable to stare at someone. And it always annoyed me.

“Stop it or I’ll let Dexter spit venom in your eyes and temporarily blind you.”

He smiled, running his fingers through my hair. “No you won’t. Is it really so bad that I like to look at you? Like to look at you knowing you’re mine and that I’ve tasted every single inch of you?”