He stares at me for a long moment. “I’ll be just next door if you need anything. You can reach my room through our shared bathing chamber.”
Oursharedbathing chamber. Oh.
I bite the inside of my cheek. I will not imagine my bodyguard standing naked in a tub and soaping up his muscles, I really will n?—
Too late, there it is.
I wonder if he has piercings anywhere else. I add a few to my mental image, then tuck it away to enhance as soon as I am alone in bed.
“There’s one final security measure we need to attend to before I let you go for the night.”
Right. The top-up. “Yes. How should we?—”
I choke back a shriek as Lachlan appears in front of me faster than my human senses could track. He’s extremely close and so much larger than me, but somehow it’s not menacing. He’s placed his back toward the corner of the room, allowing me a clear path to both the bathing chamber and the door to the parlor. Providing me an escape route if needed. Ensuring I do not feel trapped.
“If at any moment you feel uncomfortable—during the feeding or after once the connection has been formed—all you need do is say no, and I will end it.”
My brows crease. “But don’t we need the connection to?—”
“The only thing weneed,” he growls, “is to keep you safe. And that includes your mental well-being. If you don’t want to do this, we’ll find another way.”
“And that would be?”
He shrugs. “I remain glued to your side at all times. You go nowhere without me, including outings with the dukes. You’d have no shred of privacy.” I raise a brow. How is giving him access to my mind any less invasive? “Nophysicalprivacy. Atleast with thediamhrán, you can decide whether to let me in or not. You’d be able to maintain your peace but still reach me if you’re in distress.”
I want to tell him that I don’t mind having him around. That his company is more pleasant than I anticipated.
But perhapshedoes not want to spend his time here glued tome. He likely has appointments to conduct, politicking to do, arrangements to make on behalf of his duke for whatever Otherworld will emerge from the Wild Hunt.
I lift my chin. “Do it.”
He tucks his fingers between my braid and my neck, then pushes the hair away from my throat and strokes his thumb across my unsteady pulse.
Languid heat spreads down my chest. To other places as well.
Charlotte, he is yourbodyguard, not your suitor. My heart is ignoring my head’s gentle reminders.
He squeezes my nape, a silent request to tilt my head and give him better access. The tip of his nose brushes my jaw and I fist my hands at my sides as I pinch my eyes shut.
“Relax.” His breath is hot on my neck and I’m going to combust and he has no idea that I’m not scared of the bite but rather what else I might beg him to do to me after he sinks his teeth in. “Quick pinch, a few swallows, and this will be over before you know it. Deep breath.”
I do as he says, filling my lungs. Buried beneath the evidence of our journey—road dust, damp forest, the metallic burn of the luxbridge—is something earthy and fiery and slightly sweet. Like woodsmoke and figs. His own scent.
I swallow, try to compose myself. There’s a thrumming inferno between my thighs, and my nipples are so painfully tight that I’m sure he can see them beneath my chemise and silk shirt. He must sense his effect on me.
And I cannot decide whether I’m relieved or insulted that he hasn’t acknowledged it. His muscles are tense, a coiled tightness throughout his powerful body. As if he’s leashing himself. Against what, I dare not ponder, lest I turn my head and lick his mouth.
God, why I am like this? Insatiable.
New Charlotte needs to get a hell of a lot better at controlling her impulses. And quickly.
He inches closer, the cool metal of his lip ring dragging against my overly sensitive skin. “Ready?”
I relax my shoulders and part my lips and I’ve barely saidyesbefore his fangs pierce my flesh.
I gasp and arch up into him.
He threads his other arm around my waist, releasing a groan that I am fairly certain is involuntary based on how swiftly he swallows it. His tongue and lips press against my throat where he’s drinking from me. It’s hot and wet and dreadfully painful.
