“Aye. Most weren’t Vampires.”
“Most?”
He shut off the water. “We all make mistakes. Human blood is pure and spirited, so for recreational purposes, Vampires prefer a human cocktail.”
“So then why would Vampires drink from each other?”
He sucked in a shallow breath. “Our blood is potent and has healing properties, just as your Mage light does. Most of us don’t give or take Vampire blood freely. It feeds into our primal nature—it can change you.”
He snatched a towel from the rack and applied pressure against my back.
I switched to a bad Russian accent, imitating Viktor while Christian led us back into the room. “What did you do on your vacation, Raven? Will I see it on the news?”
Christian walked to one side of the bed and sat down, twisting his body until he was lying on his back with me on top of him. “It’s easier this way,” he said in a velvety voice.
We were both wet, and I might have shivered had we not been lying skin against skin. Had I been the woman I was two months ago, I would have stubbornly crawled out the door. But I had to make concessions in this new life I’d chosen, even if it meant accepting help from a Vampire.
“I suspect you’re skilled in the biting,” he said. “Just remember that I’m not one of your victims.”
I chuckled and patted his jugular. “Don’t worry. You won’t feel a thing.”
“Words I never imagined I’d hear from a woman’s lips to my ears. But trust me, it’s one you’llneverhear from mine.”
I rolled my eyes as I tilted his head away. His heart was strong, and I could tell from not only the vein he offered, but also the feel of it pounding against my chest. I wasn’t sure how much of his blood I’d be able to tolerate before I got sick, but hopefully it would be enough to heal. I prepped him with a few strokes of my tongue and sucked the skin. I pulled hard as if I were going to give him a hickey and rolled my tongue across his flesh until his pulse jumped. Usually with my victims, I’d been in a rush, but once in a blue moon, I had the chance to take my time. It took finesse to do it right, although I wasn’t quite sure if I was about to get graded on my technique. I quickly released my hold, and when I stroked my tongue against his skin twice, he shivered.
Hard.
I deftly drove my fangs into his neck and then retracted them. Color bloomed to the surface.
“You’re quite good at that,” he said in a silken voice.
It’s just for healing,I thought, bracing myself for the wretched taste.Just hold your breath and chug it down.
I latched on, and Christian’s blood was unlike anything I’d ever tasted.
Sweet and yet full of spices. Rich, with so many complex layers I’d never tasted in human blood. Now I finally understood what the fuss was about.
Vampire blood had infinite texture—it was alive and humming with information and power. Each mouthful evoked a feeling of security, and I was astonished by how clearly I could read his emotions on a level I’d never thought possible. Curious, I began paying attention to the secret flavors on my tongue. Fear mingled with desire, and despite his previous remarks, helovedthe feel of someone drinking from him.
Christian’s blood was a river of life that healed my wound and invigorated every nerve ending. But something else was culminating between us, and I wasn’t sure if the influence was derived from his blood or the intimate nature of the act.
“This doesn’t mean I like you,” I whispered.
His breathing became as restless as mine, and I thought I felt his hand brush against the side of my breast.
“You need to stop,” he said. “Not too much.”
I wanted more of him inside me.Just one more sip,I kept telling myself, swallow after swallow.
Butdamn. Christian was more addictive than a can of Pringles. Even his blood tasted wholly different from anything I’d had before—reminiscent of what I’d experienced with my maker, only now I was tasting it for the first time as a Vampire and not a human. It was dark and earthy, sinful and pure, rapturous and frightening—as if heaven and hell were in every drop.
He gripped my head. “I’m not a drinking fountain.”
When I tasted the shift in his emotions—raw desire melting away to a blank slate of indifference—I pulled back and looked down at him, a drop of blood clinging to my lip. Something odd transpired between us in that flash of a second. I imagined his mouth on mine—wet, hot, and tireless as we kissed deeply. The fantasy was so real, as if I knew exactly how he would kiss me, the way his hands would grip my waist, the way his whiskers would feel against my chin.
I licked my lips, and something dark flickered in his eyes. “Let me seal it up before you bleed on the bedspread.” I leaned in and stroked my tongue along the site.
He tensed beneath me, his heart hammering against his chest. It also hadn’t escaped my attention that he had a full-blown erection, a rather large detail I tried to ignore.
