“Are you getting shy on me?”
She shook her head and grinned. “Why? Do you like it?”
“Not at all; I like it when you bite.” I leaned forward and placed a knee on the bed, and she pitched backward. She laid down on the bed, and I hovered over her. Visions of her in the garden paid my mind a visit, a delightful memory to make this taste even sweeter.
I leaned closer, nearly nose to nose with her. I touched over her corset cover, though she was using it now as nightwear. The lacy hem and thin material were a tease as to what was underneath.
“I don’t think you’d want me to bite you; just ask Luka,” she teased, biting at my bottom lip softly.
There was a fluttering inside me, like an animal was skittering around. I would say she gave me butterflies, but it was likely a different kind of hunger.
Her eyes fluttered up, concerned with my hesitance.
Don’t look at me like that.
I snaked my hands around her and placed my hand firmly on the back of her neck, lifting her slightly to me. It was taking everything in me not to tangle my fingers in her hair and ravish her here.
My heart was beating a thousand times faster than I knew it could, and I knew she could feel it too. My eyes trailed from her eyes to her neck. I could see every pulse, feel every pump of her heart send that crimson gold through her veins every second.
She reached up and circled her arms around my neck, pulling me closer. Her head reclined to the side, inviting me with her extended neck.
I lifted her toward me and traced my lips along the spot on her neck, feeling the pulse vibrate.
The low clicking bloomed in my throat like a cicada in late July.
With vigilant attention and care, my fangs flicked forward, flexing far as if to reach her sooner. I grazed them over her skin, scraping lightly. The anticipation was making me salivate. It was like a dream, the way I could be here with her, her attention dedicated only to me.
“Why do you hesitate?” she whispered, resurfacing me from my thoughts.
Alina seemed calm, but she couldn’t hide the twitch of her brow, then the tension in her jaw. This was fear, not like the trepidation from hunting her.
No, it was the fear of rejection.
Her heart skipped, her breath shallowing. Was she afraid I would refuse her? Or the thought of all this emotional labor being just a means to feed from her?
“You know I like to take my time.” I chuckled, my other hand stroking her cheek. She leaned into my touch, closing her eyes. The sight made me want to melt into a puddle, intoxicated from every reaction she would spare me.
She relaxed in my arms, and her hands smoothed up my shoulders and up the back of my neck, her fingers making a home tangled in my hair. With that, she pulled my head close.
A satisfied hum escaped me when she did that. Who knew the feeling of being desired could feel like this?
Without much delay, I gently kissed her neck, sucking at the skin tenderly. She tasted so sweet; I wanted to taste every inch of her. My fangs ached as they reached forward, poised above the milky flesh.
I sank my canines into her, biting down quickly so there wasn’t much time to feel the pain.
She held on to me, trembling after the initial bite. The reaction only made me bite down harder, hoping that soon the venom would calm her nerves.
The hot, decadent blood washed over my tongue and made my senses swim in its flavor. It was like tasting fine wine, the most unique and expensive notes hidden under the metallic surface, wrapped in an ivory casing that was my lovely Alina.
Her slender form eased into mine, either from blood loss or from the venom.
I took one long swallow before I removed my teeth from her, flattening my tongue over the wound. It pained me to stop. My body wanted to throw itself at her just from the lingering taste of her on my tongue. She was provocative enough that I wouldwant to beg her to use me in any way she could, just so I could get another taste.
When I peered down, her eyes fluttered open like she was pretending her eyes were not closed just before.
“Are you well?” I whispered.
She nodded and stared sleepily at me.
