My fiancé’s mouth returned to mine, tongue spearing between my lips. Piece by piece, our clothes hit the floor. James mapped out every corner of my mouth—like he didn’t alreadyknow me inside and out. One hand on my hip, he started the bath water with the other.
Nipping at my lip, he broke off the kiss. “Get in. I’ll be right back.”
He was gone before I could ask where he was going. I had just settled into the tub when James returned with a bottle of red wine and two glasses.
I arched a brow. “Since when do we drink wine?”
James offered me a shrug as he filled the glasses. “I figured a hot bath after a stressful night called for it.”
Then something occurred to me. “Wheredid we get wine? We don’t keep any in the house.”
“I ran to Liz’s.”
“Just now? You ran to the bar completely naked?” I slid forward to allow James room to climb into the bath behind me.
He gave me a smoldering grin and handed over one of the glasses. “It’s fun when you move too fast for people to see you.”
“Will you teach me to do that?”
“Of course, I will.” James punctuated his sentence by licking over the mark on my neck.
I smiled, resting against his chest. Between his strong arms and thighs around me, and the warmth of the water after being out in the chilly winter night, I relaxed. Bringing my glass to my lips, I tipped it back for a mouthful. At a tricky angle, I tipped it too far and wine poured down my chin to dribble against my chest. I moved to sit up, but James was quicker.
“You’re a mess, love,” he laughed, wiping the spill with his finger. He drew a path of heat up my chest, and as the digit swept over my neck, he brushed the mark again to send tingles throughout my body. He licked the wine off his hand, and my cock twitched.
“Well, that’s one way to drink wine,” I said. The comment sparked an idea in my head. “Get in front of me.”
James stared at me, confused, but he obeyed anyway. Hot, bubbly water sloshed over the sides of the tub as we adjusted our position, and then James was between my thighs, now facing me. I leaned back and arched my neck, turning the glass so the deep red liquid trickled over my neck and chest. James watched, mouth watering.
He ducked before I could command him to do so, lapping up the drink with his tongue. He chased the droplets across my stomach, my chest, licking his way up to my neck. I shuddered, melting into his touch. Just before my eyes fluttered shut, James’s chain vanished from sight. We’d come to the same conclusion: Dark red liquid would taste so much better if helickedit off my skin.
“You’re sure?” he asked, voice tight like he was fighting every urge he had to restrain himself. He took our glasses and set them on the floor. “You’re ready to try again?”
I pried my eyes back open. His arms trembled to either side of me; red swirled in his irises. The bathroom light reflected off of his elongated fangs…
And a shiver went down my spine.
I couldn’t wait.
“Yes,” I huffed, latching onto a thick fistful of James’s hair and tugging his head down to my neck.
His tongue darted out to lap at the mark, but despite his obvious impatience, he didn’t sink in right away. “I have an idea.”
I gave him a flat look, ruined somewhat by my obvious desire. “Is it to tell meeverythingabout turning so there won’t be any more surprises?”
He apologized to me with a long stripe of his tongue over his mark, and I eagerly accepted it. “Sorry, love. There are aspects of the bond that I haven’t experienced in decades, and they slip my mind.”
“Mmm,” I managed, “as long as you make it up to me likethis.” I gasped on the last word as his tongue did something to my skin that drove me wild.
I didn’t know how he expected me to comprehend anything he was saying when he was doing that to me. I moaned, my hips rocking up in search of his. My heart rate sped up, pulsing beneath his lips. When he opened his mouth and his fangs tickled the sensitive flesh, I cried out for more. “What’s your idea?”
“If I let the bite bleed before I seal it,” he said, “it might give the venom more time to work.”
“Okay,” I agreed. I’d give in to just about anything he asked me for. “Just do it.”
“There’ll be quite a lot of blood, love,” he warned.
“Good thing I’m engaged to a vampire.” I rose from the water, bringing my mouth a hairsbreadth from his. “Bite me,fiancé.”
