“Yes, my Lord,” Lan’ara whispered again. She felt as though she was blushing all over her body at the same time. This was dreadful! Worse than being caught touching herself, because at least she could have stopped and pulled her hand away. But nothing seemed to make the flower that was sucking her clit quit its illicit activity.
“Here,” Need told her, reaching between her thighs. “Let me take care of this.”
Lan’ara tried not to flinch from his big hand, but he didn’t touch her at all—only pinched the persistent flower at the base of its blossom, causing it to finally let go.
Lan’ara gave a sigh of relief when the flower finally came free. She pressed her thighs together instinctively, wanting to hide her sex, and then gave a little hiss between her teeth when the motion hurt her injured flesh.
The big Kindred frowned.
“Come on—it’s clear you’re still in pain,” he told her. “Let’s get you dried off and healed up.”
He helped Lan’ara out of the tub and wrapped a fluffy towel around her. Lan’ara thought she had never been so glad to be covered in her life. She knew she would have to try and get used to having her new owner’s eyes and quite possibly his hands and mouth on her naked body, but a lifetime of modesty was difficult to overcome.
“This way,” Need told her gruffly, once she was dry, and led her back into the bedroom. “All right,” he said. “Now lie down on the bed and spread your legs for me.”
Nine
Lan’ara began to do exactly as he said, but then she looked up and caught sight of his face. Or more specifically, his mouth.
Oh my Gods and Goddesses, are those fangs?
She bit her lip to stop a scream from spilling out. Earlier her new master had looked normal—well, extremely big and muscular but still like a regular man, except for his bronze eyes. But now he looked like a…
“A blood-sucker,” she whispered before she could stop herself. “A leach.”
“What?” He frowned at her, which hid all but the razor-sharp tips of his fangs—they were so long now, that they were clearly visible unless he closed his mouth completely.
Lan’ara was certain he hadn’t had them before—she would defintely have noticed. Had he grown them just now, just for her, so he could bite her?
“What’s that you’re saying?” he demanded and Lan’ara realized she hadn’t answered him earlier.
“N-nothing m-my Lord,” she whispered, stuttering with fright.
There were stories in her village about males like him—leaches who lived only by sucking the blood of innocent girls. They drained a body of its blood, leaving nothing but a cold corpse when they were done with their victim. Her grandmother’s people had called them “vampires.”
Suddenly she understood why he had wanted her—and why he showed no interest in her offers to pleasure him.
He bought me because he wants to drink my blood, she thought, feeling cold all over. Because he wants to drain me dry and eject my body into space.
The thought filled her with terror—so much so that she started trembling. She couldn’t help remembering all the girls she’d seen die in the past few days. The one at the academy who’d had her brains blown out and the girl with the green skin and blood who’d been gutted as she tried to run from the slave ship.
But at least it was fast for them, Lan’ara thought frantically. How long would it take to have all the blood drained from her body?
And how much would it hurt?
“Well, what are you waiting for?” the big Kindred demanded, breaking into her frantic train of thought.
Looking from his fangs to his eyes, Lan’ara saw that there was an impatient look on his handsome face.
“M-my Lord?” she managed to get out.
“I told you to lie back on the bed and spread your legs for me,” he said, frowning. “So why aren’t you doing it?”
Lan’ara felt like her very skin was trying to crawl off her body and run away.
Not only did he want to sink those razor-sharp fangs into her and drink her blood—he wanted to drink it from the most sensitive area on her body! He was going to bite her exactly where she was hurt—she was certain of it. Probably because that place had already been wounded and the blood was close to the surface.
She wanted to run but the big Kindred was between her and the door. She wanted to hide, but where could she go that he wouldn’t find her?
A scene played out before her mind’s eye—she saw herself jumping off the bed and dodging around him, then running down the corridor of the ship and trying to make her way outside, back to the marketplace.
And what will you do, even if you manage to get there? a little voice demanded in the back of her brain. Where will you go? You have nothing, Lanni—not even any clothes! How long do you think you’ll last out there, stark naked in a crowd of lustful, hungry males?