Mine, specifically? Or… or in general?
“I’m so confused,” I whisper, meaning it. “Is it that you’ve never been with a human before?” I guess out loud. “Is that whatyou meant?” I open my eyes once more and look at him. “You’re used to other, er, Strigoi in bed?”
He stares at me. “I don’t allow anyone in my bed, Viviana.” He cants his head. “Sleep is a vulnerable state for a Strigoi.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
A ghost of a smile tilts his lips on one side. “I know.” He lifts his hand to my cheek, then runs the back of his fingers down my neck.
“Did you just make a joke…?” I ask slowly, trying to understand him.
“I don’t joke.” A serious statement. Yet I swear there’s a glimmer of mirth in his gaze as his irises slowly return to an obsidian color. “I’ve never been with another being in an intimate manner, Viviana. You are my first. In all ways.”
I gape at him. “What?” That can’t be true. Or maybe we’re having some sort of misunderstanding in terms. “You’re several hundred years old.”
“Over a thousand years, actually,” he tells me.
“There’s no way you’re a virgin,” I go on, almost ignoring his comment. But I mentally catalog the information since it’s the first personal detail he’s given me about himself.
Unless… unless he means it about being inexperienced.
“Virginis a sweet term, one that feels too inadequate to describe who and what I am.” He sits up a little straighter, his intense gaze holding mine. “As the Strigoi King, I need an heir. It’s beneath me to indulge in a frivolous affair with an unworthy candidate. Therefore, I’ve waited for the right opportunity to… play.”
His words roll through my head, my mind comprehending the concept behind them, but not quite believing what it means. “So you’ve never… been with a human.”
“I’ve never been intimate with anyone,” he says, repeating what he’s already told me. “Except you.” He cups my cheekagain. “That’s why it’s important for you to remain still when I’m using you, pet. I’m learning the limits of our connection. And I do not wish to harm you.”
“Using me.” That phrase irritates me almost as much as it turns me on. “Using me for pleasure? Using me for an heir? Using me for… what exactly?”
“Yes.”
I wait for him to elaborate.
He doesn’t.
“That doesn’t answer my question, Ciprian.”
His jaw clenches. “Are you aware that it’s improper for a pet to call a king by his first name? Some may even call itrude.”
“Are you aware that it’s rude to call a woman a pet?” I counter. “Are you aware that it’s rude to tell a woman you want to use her? Or to fuck her mouth until she nearly passes out?” I glare at him. “It’s also rude?—”
His lips claim mine, silencing me.
I almost fall into the kiss.Almost.
Then I remember that he can apparently hear my thoughts.
So I continue listing ways he’s been rude within my mind.
It’s rude to use your tongue to silence someone.
It’s rude to stick a tail in someone without asking.
It’s rude to choke someone with your cock.
“Is it rude to gift your intended mate with so much pleasure that she passes out?” he asks, his lips brushing mine with every word. “Is it rude to feed her your blood so she survives and comes back stronger than ever?”
I glare at him. “It’s rude to assume someone is your intended mate without actually asking.” My words lack heat, mostly because my mind is whirring with the phraseintended mate.
