She snorted, then covered her mouth, fighting between smiling, laughing, and looking touched. “Um, yes. Just anywhere? Or—”
I rolled my head to the side, showing her my neck. Cara stared at the spot, canines enlarging until they formed points just past her lower lip.
She ran her tongue over them, hesitating. After a few seconds, she lowered her mouth to my neck. I felt her silky hair tickle my skin before she bit, sinking her teeth into me.
I sucked in a breath as the rush of energy flowed from me to her. Cara moaned against my neck, hands clutching my back harder. I let her drink her fill, even as she squeezed her eyes shut and gasped from the pleasure.
When she pulled back, I had to help hold her upright. “Wow,” she gasped. “Was that supposed to be kinda hot?”
I grinned. “I’ve never done it. I guess I’ll find out.”
“You’ve never fed on another vampire?”
“No,” I said. “This is a permanent act. It’s not just a physical sealing of a bond, it’s also symbolic. Much like marriage between humans.”
Cara gave me a soft slap on the shoulder. “You didn’t think that was an important detail to mention before you asked me to bite you?”
I grinned. “The ceremony isn’t complete unless I bite you, too. If you’re opposed, all you need to do is withhold permission. If you want to seal the ceremony, you can ask.”
She raised a playful eyebrow. “What if I prefer to make you wait as punishment?”
“Then you would be very cruel.”
She rubbed a little of the blood from her chin with the pad of her thumb and licked it clean, never taking her eyes from mine. I felt my teeth—and another part of my anatomy—start to enlarge.
“Bite me, Lucian Undergrove.”
“I’m fairly sure you’re not supposed to say it like that,” I said.
“Fang me, you dirty, sexy vampire.”
I laughed. “That’s definitely not right.”
Cara chewed her lip, a gesture made all the more alluring with her enlarged fangs protruding over her blood-stained lips. “Lucian Undergrove, will you bite me?”
I bent to her neck, pressing my fangs through her soft flesh. Her blood rushed into my mouth like the finest wine. I felt its aphrodisiac qualities pulsing through me instantly and my hands gripped her narrow waist tighter, pushing her body into me.
She let out a low moan, fingers running through my hair.
I had to make myself stop before I took too much. When I pulled back, my body was singing like I was in the middle of the most intense sexual experience of my life.
“Feels good, right?” she asked.
I nodded. “And now you’re mine.” I cupped her cheeks, kissing her and tasting a hint of my blood on her lips. “Like it or not.”
“Like it,” she muttered against my lips.
48
Epilogue - Cara
Two Weeks Later
I woke up and looked down, realizing my arms were crossed over my chest. I jolted a little, quickly uncrossing them.
It was just after sunset. The windows were open, but the bug screens were up, which was good because I could hear the insects outside buzzing wildly. Lucian had moved us out to a rural farm an hour outside Savannah for the time being. He said if the others wanted to find us, they could, but that it would be safer not to keep showing our faces for a while.
For a few days, we kept Leah and Jezabel under lock and key in a shed outside the property. Eventually, Lucian was convinced they were telling the truth about not being bound to Bennigan any longer. It seemed that without Bennigan renewing his charm on them, they could think clearly for the first time in a long time. We’d let the woman go, even though Vlad had begged to torture them “just a little” for all the trouble they’d caused. We compromised by letting him blindfold them and drive them in circles for a few hours so they wouldn’t be able to tell anyone were we were. Alaric had followed along to make sure there was no unapproved “poking” before they were released.
The place Lucian purchased was essentially a mansion with two sprawling wings for guests, several grand rooms for the homeowners, and gorgeous libraries, sitting rooms, and even a ballroom for us all to spread out without stepping on each other’s toes. I was glad for all the extra space, because Alaric, Seraphina, and Vlad were all staying with us while we waited for things to cool down.
Lucian apparently preferred to sleep in tight, coffin-like boxes. When I asked him if there was a reason we couldn’t sleep in the bed like normal people, he muttered something about vampires not feeling discomfort and dignity.
He had also explained that vampire couples don’t typically sleep in the same place because of more mysterious vampire reasons he wouldn’t get into. I decided if he wanted me to obey his stupid traditions, he could give me a good explanation. If he couldn’t, I wasn’t going to follow them.