Not only at the fact he just did that, but at the ropes inside me that were holding me back, they’re all snapping one by one.
“Normally, the blood of other vampires won’t do much for you unless…well, perhaps you’ll find out one day,” he says, and a heated look comes across him for a moment. “But right now, you’ll take anything.”
I’m breathless, speechless, trying to hold myself together, to look away, to go inward to where I’m strong, where I’m not some bloodthirsty beast.
But that part of me doesn’t exist right now.
The cigar falls from my hands to the carpet and in a second I’m jumping across the table, drinks knocking over, glass smashing, climbing on top of him in his chair.
I grab his head, my mouth going right for his neck, and the minute his blood hits my tongue, I know I could easily kill him. I’m that starved, that mad with hunger.
And so I let myself go. I suck at his skin, drinking down the blood, feeling it hit every one of my cells, making them come alive, filling the empty parts of me with the lifeblood of him.
I barely notice anything else. Just his smell, the taste of his blood, sweeter and better than anything I’ve ever tasted, the taste of life itself.
Beneath me, Absolon moans, a low throaty sound that turns me inside out, and his hand goes into my hair, holding my head against his neck, the other hand at my back, pressing me to him.
Fuck. I want to consume him, all of him.
I dig my nails into his shoulders, grinding myself down on him, my lips sucking, tasting, feasting, his blood making my soul sing. It’s like a constant orgasm without a release.
I don’t know how long it goes on for, time seems to stop, and finally, finally I feel like I’ve had enough.
He puts his hands against my shoulders, pushing me back.
I’m breathing hard, my mouth a mess, and he’s staring at me with dilated eyes, big, black, and round, and I’m looking at his lips, wanting the energy to continue, to shift, to become something even bigger.
He reaches out with his hand and gently pushes the hair off my face, eyes roaming over my features, a hint of tenderness in them. And I feel that, just for a second, because what could be more intimate than drinking someone’s blood when that blood is what keeps you alive?
Fuck, I want him.
I lean in, going to kiss him, to taste his beautiful lips, but his hands remain firm, preventing me from getting closer.
“Feel better?” he asks, his voice quiet and hoarse.
I swallow down the last of his blood in my mouth and realize just what happened. The gash on his neck seems to be healing already, but his white shirt is soaked red, and the front of my nightgown is the same. His skin seems even paler than before, if that’s possible.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I’m so sorry.”
I quickly scramble to get off of him, but he holds me in place. “Don’t be sorry. I wanted you to do that.” He licks his lips, which are almost white. “I may have underestimated you, but you obviously needed it. There’s a part of you that either doesn’t want you to give into your vampire tendencies, or it’s a part that doesn’t need to. But I thin
k, going forward, you shouldn’t deny it for too long. I can handle it…others won’t be able to.”
I look away, feeling shame, but everywhere I look I see blood. “Would I have killed you? If you didn’t stop me?”
“Only three ways to kill a vampire,” he reminds me, adjusting his grip, loosening a little. “You can’t bleed one dry. But you can take a lot of their life force. You can make them weak.”
“Have I made you weak?”
“You would like that, wouldn’t you?”
I nod. No use lying. “If I make you weak, maybe you’ll let me go.”
“It’s too late, Lenore,” he says gravely. “You’re mine now. You just cemented it.”
I gulp, my stomach flipping. “You’re auctioning me off tonight.”
“And that’s of my choosing. But, until I consciously let you go, you’re mine. That’s what happens when you feast on the blood of another vampire when you’re still becoming.”