Page 83 of Deadly Alliances

He tried to shake his head, only managing to move it an inch in either direction. “I can’t feed from you again. I took too muchlast time. I’m so sorry.”

“Oh, my love, there’s nothing to be sorry for,” I cooed. “It wasn’t your fault. I’m fine, and we’re fine. You know Idohave the power to stop you if you go too far.”

He chuckled, the sound dry and raspy. “Leave it to you to make me laugh in this place.”

I smiled, pressing my palm against his face. “Please, let me feed you. It’s the only thing I can do for you, and I need you to let me do it.”

He frowned as he stared up at me with conflicted eyes, but I could see the thirst dilating his pupils. A spark of desire flared inside me, just as it always did when he looked at me like that—like he was the predator and I was his prey. It didn’t matter that he was too weak to charge me, it was just knowing how badly he craved me and what he was capable of, that made my core tighten with need.

When no objection came, I pulled my hair back and held it with one hand, then leaned over him, offering my neck right above his lips. Slowly, he spread his mouth over my skin, and I quivered with longing as the pad of his tongue dragged across my flesh. The tips of his fangs pricked at the sensitive tissue, then finally penetrated, sinking all the way in.

My eyelids fluttered as elation spread across my body, fueling the fire in my core into an inferno. His hand came up to curl around the back of my head, cradling me into the ideal position, and even the scrape of his fingers over my scalp felt divine.

My hands had a mind of their own as they pulled at the skirt of my dress, gathering the silky material over my thighs. Without disturbing Julian’s sucking, I slid my leg over his waist, saddling over his pelvis and letting my body melt against his. And whenthe hardness of his desire beneath his pants brushed against my center, I lost all caution and rational thought, driven by the pure carnal need to please him.

I began to rock my hips, pressing against his cock in a rhythm that sent my eyes rolling up into my head. His moan vibrated against my neck, resounding through my veins, and my body responded to his demand for my friction even as the roughness of his jeans began to chafe my tender flesh.

But I was beyond caring about such trivial discomforts. In that moment, Julian was mine. After all this time worrying and fighting through hell to get to him, I was here, and there was nothing I wouldn’t offer him.

Suddenly, there was a sharp yank on the back of my head, and faster than my mind could process it, I was flying across the room. My back slammed into the wall, and I collapsed in a daze on the floor.

“I knew it!” came a seraphic hiss.

Sluggishly dragging my hands in front of me, I pushed myself up, fighting the burning pain in my scalp and the throbbing stiffness of my back. Through strands of hair that had fallen in front of my face, I could see Marguerite glowering down at me, her angelic face twisted in a nightmarish snarl.

“Iknewthere was something between the two of you,” she hissed, her hands at her sides curling into claws. “How dare you think you can touch what’smine!”

In the next instant, her hand was around my neck and I was dangling above the floor, gasping for breath.

“Marguerite, stop!” Julian shouted behind her, dragging himself to the edge of the bed.

“I’m going to enjoy your every. Last. Drop!” she shrieked.

“Wi di sa,” I gasped, tugging desperately on the well of magic within me as my fingers pried fruitlessly at her cold, immovable fingers.

“What?” she barked.

“Ma’at sheut asfet,” I rasped, my face throbbing with the lack of circulation.

“What the hell are you saying?” she shrieked like a banshee.

“Hekah…meh,” I mouthed, completely choked off.

The room filled with a gentle glow, even as my field of vision began to narrow.

“What did you do to me, witch?” Marguerite cursed. “Why can’t I move?”

The spell had worked despite my lack of breath to voice all of it. Marguerite was frozen in place. But the problem with that was her hand—locked in its position around my throat. I kicked my feet and clawed at her fingers, but my efforts only drained what little oxygen I had left in my lungs with no way of replenishing it.

“Hold on, Shea.” Julian’s voice sounded so far away, my vision tunneling and blurring as little rainbows faded in and out of my dwindling periphery.

Just as the pressure in my head was becoming too much, my throat was released, and I crumpled onto the floor once more. With a hoarse gasp, I sucked in one sharp breath after another, desperately straining to fill my deflated lungs. My vision expanded, the rainbows blinking out of existence, and the pressure in my head and face rescinded, allowing the voices in the room to become clear again.

“Are you okay?” Julian asked, kneeling beside me with his handon my back.

I nodded frantically, still too air hungry to afford speech.

“Release me this instant, you filthy whore!” Marguerite screeched, spittle flying from her mouth. “You’ll both die for this. Slowly. I’ll rip both of you to pieces and make you both watch!”

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