Perdita obviously aims to frighten Winnie away, but I know she has a strength within her that Perdita cannot fathom.
And it’s good that Winnie sees this, because the other night it seemed as if she was … curious. I need her to know what a vampire bite can do to a human, how addictive it can become.
I need her to understand because if she asks me again, I won’t be able to resist her …
Perdita lowers her lips to her Thrall’s neck. Her fangs drop, and she pricks his skin, sighing with pleasure as her fangs sink into his flesh.
The room bursts with the scent of fresh blood. My nails claw at the armrests of the chair. That hot, rich scent mingles with Winnie’s strawberries and sunshine, and it takes every ounce of strength I possess not to throw the chair aside, fold her into my arms, and drink until we’re both moaning with ecstasy.
Fresh blood …
It’s been so long, and I am so weak for her …
I dare a look at Winnie. She sits ramrod straight, her gaze fixed on the Thrall’s neck, where Perdita sucks with abandon, making little mewling noises in her throat. The Thrall’s eyesroll back in his head, and he lets out a low moan of pleasure that makes my toes curl inside my boots.
Winnie’s lips purse. She digs her nails into her palm. But is she afraid … or …
“A little supper sounds delightful.” Callista snaps her fingers, bidding her Thrall to kneel. She sinks her fangs roughly into his neck, her throat working as she sucks down her fill. The air is so thick with bloodscent that I’m grinding my fangs against my lower teeth.
Winnie lets out a low whimper that shoots through my body and into my shaft, which tents indecently in my breeches. I can’t move my hands to adjust myself or I will do something I regret.
The hunger is a beast tearing at my stomach, eating me from the inside.
My mother shoves her Thrall away and leans back with a happy sigh, not bothering to wipe the blood from her lips. She smirks at me as she holds her goblet beneath him while his blood flows freely from the wound, capturing every drop, knowing that each crimson tear falling from his neck drives me to the brink.
She wants to see me falter, to remind me of the monster I am inside. She still believes that Winnie could not love a monster. And as much as I hope otherwise, I truly expect Winnie to run for the door any moment now and never come back.
“Care to join us, son?” Callista holds up the goblet. “We can toast your unconventional engagement. Unless your little wife-to-be has changed her mind?”
I give Winnie another moment to make her choice. It’s all I can give her before the hunger becomes too much. But she doesn’t move from beside me.
A faint moan escapes her lips. The same moan she made the first time I kissed her.
And I amgone.
“Certainly, we will join you, Mother.”
I snap out my hand and wrap my fingers around Winnie’s small wrist, yanking her out of her chair and into mylap. She wriggles a little, settling her knees on either side of me. Her eyes widen as she feels the obscenity of me between her legs, with my mother and my arranged fiancée in the room with us.
Every brush of her against my needy skin is exquisite torture.
“Alaric—”
“Trust me,” I whisper, my voice hoarse with bloodlust.
I tilt her head towards me, wrapping my fingers against her neck. Every movement is agonising for all the things I want to do to her. A vein pulses beneath her skin, so hot and ripe and delicious. But I have made her a promise, so I must sate my hunger with whatever she can give me.
I bend and capture her lips in mine, white-hot need coursing through me. Her mouth tastes sweet, so sweet. It’s been centuries since I’ve tasted fresh strawberries bursting on my tongue, but she makes me remember. She makes me wish for things I cannot have with a hunger that ismorethan I can bear.
I am floating, dizzy and drowning in sweetness, my hands roaming over her body in worship. The little moans she makes in my mouth are so needy that I almost believe she craves a monster.
But does Perdita believe it? Does she know this show is also for her, to convince her that marrying me means wedding a vampire so saturated in sin and forbidden desire that she will never recover her reputation?
Winnie’s fingers twine in my hair, pulling me closer. She grinds against me, pushing my head down towards her neck, her head falling back so that my fangs scrape her skin and I yearn, I want, Icrave…
This woman will ruin me …
“I’ve lost my appetite.” Perdita kicks her Thrall away and storms from the room.
