He moved back for just a moment. “Relax, please, Kimber. Trust me—you’ve given me control.”
Power surged in me as he fastened his lips around the bite he had made. I let go, letting all the tension flow out of me and the pleasure flow in.
The priestly men came close, and I could see them smirk when they saw Aiko’s lips on my throat. With a nod, they moved off to serve the others from the bucket.
Aiko tasted me for another few minutes with small, slow mouthfuls of my blood. I couldn’t see for the pleasure his mouth brought.
We would survive the Rite without having tasted or touched any others in the room.
But I was a mess.
Aiko finally pulled back from my throat, and with a tender, careful lick, he sealed the wounds and tossed me into another consuming climax.
* * *
I jerked awake.
I didn’t remember falling asleep.
Looking around, I tried to figure out what was going on and where I was.
Comfortably ensconced in a bed, I was tucked tightly against a hard, toned male body. His arm cradled my head carefully, long black hair spilling everywhere.
Aiko.
We were still in the vampire stronghold, but we weren’t in that hedonistic, bloodied dining-room-cum-torture-chamber anymore.
Aiko was not asleep. I glanced up at him again, and he offered a wan smile. “Okay?”
“Not really,” I admitted. “Where are we and what the hell happened?”
“It’s my fault. I forgot to warn you about the…” He cleared his throat.
“The screaming orgasms?” I offered.
“Well. Yes.”
I let out a sigh. “A warning would have been nice. But the orgasm was just as nice, so I guess it’s a wash in the end. Any other times I’m in danger of climaxing around you?”
He smirked. “No. No. Just the blood exchange.”
I gasped. “You didn’t give me any—”
“No!” He shook his head vigorously. “No. I didn’t. You passed out after I cleaned the bite and seemed to be glowingly healthy.”
“I was. Druids’ power runs on sex and climax. I just didn’t expect that I would. There. In the room. From your… sucking.”
He chuckled. “That screaming delight is why we have rules about taking blood and sharing it. It is completely rude to just take someone’s blood. And depending on the circumstance, it could carry a death sentence. For anyone.”
“Anyone?”
He nodded. “Including the king.”
I sat up next to him in the bed and found I was mostly still dressed. Pants and shirt intact, shoes and gloves were gone. “What happened? After I passed out?”
Aiko sat up with me but swung his legs off the bed. “Your blood is insanely potent.” He grimaced a moment but continued. “I only need a few mouthfuls to be able to completely regain myself and then some. I passed out not long after you passed out. I just held on to you and let the mess happen around us. When I woke, I had to fight off a few more aggressive courtiers, but nothing I couldn’t handle.
“It was only about an hour before all the drinking and fucking slowed to a stop, and everyone just started passing out blood-drunk. Sometime around four in the morning, after everyone was soundly out, the doors unlocked. I quickly and quietly sped the hell out of there with you. I didn’t want you in your room, so I brought you to mine.”
