Before my Rest, there wouldn’t have been mixing. It would have been brutal drinking, gorging on blood. This was far more entertaining, and I was quick to understand why they had all fought to change the Blood Rite from a messy, gory affair to this subtle dance.
I waited.
All of the humans were drinking. Someone was chugging the punch they had been offered. It didn’t take long for me to start seeing the drink take effect on the humans. They were smiling, giggling, touching. The sense of affection notched up and up in the rooms where the party was held. There were fewer and fewer humans in the dining room.
The five overlords appeared at the entrance, wearing all black. There was no mistaking their arrival as they filled the room with their presence, washing over everyone with a not quite Thrall feeling for the humans.
Adelie found me standing in the doorway seconds later, and smirked.
A moment later, she let her fangs drop.
She pounced on the neck of the human she had been talking to and teasing.
The signal was given, but to my delight, the vampires didn’t strike at the humans as one. It was far more drawn out. I realized, as a people, the vampires had become more subtle, wielding their thirst and power as a precise tool, a surgical instrument. The Blood Rite had been gory and grossly sexual without the sex. ThisDia de los Muertoswas meant to be lascivious, a dance of seduction and satisfaction for both human and vampire.
There was no more death associated with the Blood Rite. The name was now fanciful.
I watched for a while, the vampires waiting for their human companions to start falling further under the spell of the drugs. It wasn’t long before a lot of them were sipping from wrists as well as necks.
Adelie led her choice human by me. “The part I didn’t tell you earlier was there is something about the drug in the human system that affects us through our blood.” She turned and pulled the handsome man down to kiss him hard. “The sexual desire goes through the roof, and it just fucking feels amazing. Get yourself a human, Gwen. Take them for a ride. This is so much better than killing them.” She pulled the man along, and I could see he was completely erect behind the shapeless robe.
Well.
Scanning the room, I found a few of the very handsome men I had spotted earlier and headed for my number one choice. He was of medium height with a dark complexion and light hair. An unusual combination with his night black eyes, but I could see he was well hung, and while I didn’t plan to use that, it was good to know.
Grinning as he saw me approach, he gave me a serious full-court bow. “Hello to you this evening.” His Spanish was a delectable sound as it rolled past his lips.
I stepped into him and wrapped a hand around his neck. “Good evening to you, too,” I answered in kind. “Are you enjoying the party?”
“More now that I’ve got you here. I was watching you all night, thinking about how much I would enjoy your lips…,” he leaned down to my ear, “...and your breasts.” He grazed over the top of my nipple, and I felt it pucker. How my nipples hadn’t been erect already with the scent of sex in the air, I didn’t know.
Pulling him down, I kissed him. Soft and sensual and liquid—he was a damn good kisser. He tasted like the punch, sweet and bitter at once. I let him enjoy my mouth as I took my light pleasure from the kiss.
I nipped his tongue with my fang. He didn’t seem to notice, but the taste of blood danced across mine, and I waited for a moment to get a proper taste of him. Once I had a little mouthful, I swallowed.
The shock rolled through me. Adelie had been right. There was something in their blood that transmuted the drug for us and made it taste sweet, succulent, and sexual. It dropped right to my pussy, and it was going to take a miracle for me to stick to my ‘not having sex’ pledge.
I drove a fang into his tongue, piercing him enough to feed myself, and pinned him there against me. I waited for a mouthful of his blood and swallowed. And again and again. It was deliberate and careful, and the consuming feeling of ‘fuck him’ drove through me with each taste.
Even better, he was nonplussed by the fact I was drinking his blood. He smartly had kept his throat closed, tipping his head toward me. All the wonderful, sweet liquid dripped into my mouth.
I couldn’t use only this man. I needed more of the sweet wine of blood they had created in the humans here. It wasn’t fair to hog him, either. Some other male or female deserved to taste him and ride him and give him his release.
So many to choose from…
A swipe of my tongue over his sealed the fang puncture and I pulled back.
“Graçias, señor. There are many others here who should have the pleasure of your company. Find one, and let them enjoy you as thoroughly as I would.”
He took my hand and kissed the back of it, leaving a little imprint of the blood on his lips. “If you have need of me later…” He smiled and moved away.
The scent of sex was in the air, and I walked toward the room with the couches. I hadn’t truly understood why it was there. I assumed it was much like a renaissance parlor, where there would be discussion and flirting. I also suspected I was wrong. My suspicion was confirmed when I walked in and witnessed every single body in the room writhing in the pursuit of climax.
Holy yes.
It was heady, and I was ready to just pin someone against the wall and have him take me and get this over with. But I wanted to show I was better than the base instincts of our race.
Proving that was going to be a real bitch.
