“Will you three give her some space?” Dominic chastises. His Shades retreat, though I can feel their reluctance to obey in their lingering touches. “It’s bad enough with just me fiending for her.”
“Who said it was bad?” I step in closer, holding his gaze. His eyes flick down to my throat, and I can almost feel the thirst radiating through him, written in the arch of his upper lip, the slight baring of his canines. This is the first time I’ve considered how hard it might be for him to hold off his thirst for days on end. From what I’ve gleaned, he doesn’t feel the need to feed as often as a true Sinless, but still.
A groan rumbles in his chest.
That’s when I reach for his hip and unsheathe his dagger. “Bite me,” I say, bringing the blade under his chin, “and if you drink too much, I’ll stab you in the fucking face.”
He blinks a few times, the hunger draining from his eyes and shifting to amusement. With a slow exhale, his posture relaxes. “Fine. Just not in the face.”
I give him a coy smile. “Very well. I’m starting to like it, after all.”
“Only now?”
“It has its merits. But this…” I sweep the blade down his neck, then lay the flat of it across his throat. He doesn’t so much as flinch. “I could live without you talking for a day or two. So behave, all right?”
His answering smile is so warm, so godsdamned beautiful, it makes my breath catch. “All right. Let me prepare the tree first.”
We proceed to the tree and I watch as Dominic gets to work. First he takes his second knife and slices off the outer bark for a smoother surface, then he begins to carve. His moves are precise, his cuts even. I’m surprised by how efficiently he works, drawing something so complex. Once it’s finished, he turns to me and sheathes his knife. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure,” I say, though my words come out a little breathless. Ifsomeone had told me I’d one day offer my blood willingly to a Shadowbane, I’d never have believed them. But a lot has happened that I never would have predicted. The most pleasant of these surprises being Dominic. My feelings for him are more complicated than ever, but my attraction to him is undeniable. My respect for him is strong. And I do know one thing. “I trust you not to hurt me.”
“Keep your trust in that blade instead,” he says, nodding at the dagger still clenched in my hand. He motions me closer. “Where do you want it?”
“Oh,” I say, the blood leaving my face. I shudder, remembering how woozy I got from watching Calvin and Dom with their vials. “Not anywhere sensitive, and not over a vein.”
“Blood flows easier from the places you consider sensitive, and faster from a vein. It would be over sooner that way.”
“Yeah, that’s not happening.”
He chuckles at my unease. “I suppose a tougher area would force me to drink slowly. It’s up to you.”
I can’t keep the look of disgust off my face as I extend my arm and pull back my sleeve. Dominic slowly takes my hand and presses his lips over my knuckles, all while holding my gaze. Then he turns my hand over and kisses my palm, then my wrist. It’s sweet, but now my panic is growing.
He trails kisses up my inner forearm.
“The other side,” I rush to say, shifting so my outer forearm is toward his lips.
His mouth curls in a wicked smile. “Very well. Get your blade ready.”
My heart races, my hand trembling as I press it to his throat. For all my earlier bravado, my nerves are fraying now. Just when I think I might give in to my panic completely, a familiar weight bumps against my leg again, steadying me. Then a light hand on my shoulder, bracing me. Another smoothing my hair, calming me. My lungs relax as Dominic’s shadows wrap around me in exactly the way I need. My anxiety shifts into anticipation. I feel just as bold yet vulnerable as I did when I stood naked for him in the cave, daring him to look at me, quivering for his touch.
He holds my eyes again as he presses one more kiss to my outer forearm. He pauses, a question in his eyes, and I nod.
I don’t let myself look away as he opens his mouth and presses his teeth against my skin. I see it before I feel it, the tips of his canines sinking into my flesh. Then there’s the sting, a sharp pressure that has my breaths shortening.
“You’re doing so good,” Lust whispers.
“That’s my fucking girl,” Pride says.
A flutter of euphoria soars through me, pooling low in my belly. Dominic extracts his canines, then presses his mouth over the wound. Another sense of pressure, but this time it’s from the mild suction of his mouth as he pulls blood from the lesion. He swallows once. Then another pull, another swallow.
Just as fear begins to darken the edges of my mind, he breaks away, lips glazed with my blood. With slow, gentle movements, he brushes his thumb over my puncture wounds, collecting a dab of my blood. His Shades remain close to me as he releases my arm and turns toward the tree, where he smears my blood over one of the lines of the diagram. The ritual circle sparks with light, but Dominic returns to me at once, cutting open his palm and painting my wound with his blood. His Shades whisper more comforting words, offer more tender touches, until the sting eases. The punctures close until there’s nothing but smooth flesh smeared with blood.
Dominic kisses my knuckles again. “Are you all right?”
His Shades seem to know exactly when I’ve regained enough of my calm to allow me some space again. It takes me a few breaths to find my voice. “Yes. That was…fine.” Fine might not be the best word for it. It was terrifying. Fascinating. And, based on the heat at the apex of my thighs, strangely erotic. I sure as hell am not telling him that.
He folds my hand in his and guides me a few steps away from the tree. The light is contained to the width of the diagram, and unlike the pillar on the bridge, it doesn’t extend in height. Instead, it gently glows over the bark. The scent of charred wood fills my nostrils, and soon the tree begins to creak. When the diagram burns through enough to split the wood and send the tree tipping, we step back again. I squeezemy fingers tight around Dominic’s as the tree falls cleanly across the river to the other side.
