Tannis scowled. “What are you doing?”
“It’ll be fine,” he assured them both. “I can feed her from my arm.” He saw the terror on Xanthia’s face even though her sightless eyes had no idea if he was sincere or not. “My sister can stay to ensure your safety and well-being. I won’t touch you. Just take what you need so that you can feed your children.”
Tannis shook her head. “Urian … it’ll weakenyou.” Her gaze dropped to the gashes in his arm where his armor hadn’t covered him and he’d taken a few cuts from swords. “And you’re wounded.”
“I’ll be fine, Tanny.” Those wounds needed a few stitches. He’d had worse injuries training with his brothers.
Xanthia pulled the covers up to her chin. “Your wife won’t mind?”
“I don’t have one.”
“You’re a Daimon?”
“Nay, I’m still an Apollite. You won’t be harmed.” He placed his arm just in front of her so that she could feel the heat of it. “It’s here when you’re ready. I promise I won’t come any closer. You’re as safe as if your solren were feeding you.”
“My brother is a man of honor. He won’t break his word.”
After a few more seconds of hesitation, Xanthia lowered the blanket and reached out to gingerly finger the flesh of his forearm. His skin tingled from the delicate sensation of her exploring the length of his limb.
Her breath stirred him even more and made him harder than he’d ever been before as she licked her lips and gently fingered his flesh for a tender spot to bite.
Urian closed his eyes and braced himself for the pain. He had no idea what to expect. It’d been so long since he last fed naturally that he couldn’t remember what it’d felt like. He knew that it was supposedly an entirely different sensation after puberty. But he’d always assumed that the hormonal surge was only felt by the one who fed.
He was wrong.
The moment she sank her fangs into his skin, his entire body came alive as if he’d been struck by lightning. Every single nerve ending he had drew taut. Worse, her feeding caused him to harden even more. Made him crave her with an unimaginable lust.
Dear gods …
He trembled from the force of it all.
For the first time, he understood what a trelos must feel like before he or she went on a killing spree. Because this,thiswas madness.
His breathing turned ragged as he fought down the urge to take her right then and there. Fisting his other hand, he forced himself not to move. He didn’t dare.
And that was the most difficult thing he’d ever managed in his entire life. Every single molecule in his body wanted to feed and take her. It was an innate need so overwhelming that he had no idea how he was able to resist it.
Tannis’s cheeks turned bright pink as she visibly grew more uncomfortable with each passing heartbeat. “I’m going to check on the children.” She practically ran from the room.
Still, Urian didn’t move.
He didn’t dare.
Xanthia licked and sucked at his arm, growling as she drank in a more and more frenzied pace. She began to claw at his skin with her nails.
Those sounds, combined with the smell of her rose-scented hair … all he wanted to do was bury himself deep inside her until he was covered with her warmth and scent, and lost in it.
Worse, he wanted to feel her lips on his neck. To taste her blood in turn …
Stop it! You’re not an animal!
No, but he felt like one at the moment. The demon in him slithered and salivated.
Until she sank her nails into his biceps and went completely still.
With a startled gasp, she looked up at him.
Her jaw dropped and quivered. The sight of his blood on her lips beckoned him even more. She licked at it, then reached up to touch his chin in startled alarm. “H-h-how can I see you? What are you?”
