Page 71 of Taste of Death

“Yes.” I was practically panting already, my leg sliding over Novak’s hip. I couldn’t imagine wanting anything more. “Yes, I would like to… do more.”

“You should probably give me some kind of signal if you want me to stop.” His hand slid from my knee up my thigh, letting the material of my dress fall away and expose more skin.

“I trust you,” I insisted. “I won’t want you to stop.”

His hand rested halfway up my thigh, thumb caressing in small circles. “Tell me if that changes at any point, okay?”

I nodded, inhaling sharply when he leaned in to kiss me. He stopped short, and when I tried to close the distance, he held me in place with a firm hand around my nape.

“Tell me with your words, akra.”

My pulse beat wildly, lips aching for contact while he hovered a hair’s breadth away. He was commanding a response, not giving me what I wanted until I did so. And still, his other hand caressed my leg in small circles with so much tenderness.

“I’ll tell you,” I whispered, “if I want you to stop.”

“Beautiful.”

Before I could figure out if he was pleased with my answer or complimenting me, his mouth fitted against mine with delicious, tantalizing pressure. Our bodies shifted as we found a rhythm in the kiss, moving to a reclined but slightly upright position in the chaise. Novak’s knees nudged my legs apart, sending my dress higher up my thighs.

Time was lost as I explored his mouth properly, without tears and crushing despair in the way. I traced his fangs with my lips, becoming familiar with those curious points.

“Why are yours so much bigger than mine?” I asked before pulling on his bottom lip.

A laugh burst out of him. “Ah well. You were born human, so I’m guessing there are limits to how big your fangs can be.”

“What? No dirty jokes?” I kissed him through my smile. “I gotta say, I am disappointed.”

“I’m a little distracted, I have to admit.” He turned my face with a gentle nudge of his hand, kissed my cheek, and then the corner of my jaw.

After a kiss below my earlobe, he dragged the points of his fangs down the side of my neck. Goosebumps and shivers wracked my whole body, the anticipation winding me up.

“Fuck, Amy.” Novak kissed the juncture of my neck and shoulder, his mouth lingering like he was savoring the taste of my skin.

“Please,” I whispered, my heart hammering.

He kissed me there once more, tongue flattening against my pulse. My eyelids fluttered closed, breath caught in my chest as I waited.

I felt two sharp points of pressure, but no pain. The barrier of my skin broke and Novak sealed his lips to my skin, his chest against mine with a gentle weight like a blanket.

He moaned with the first pull on my vein, and the sensation sent my head falling back, my whole body arching into him. I had been feeling good while kissing, but within seconds, I ratcheted up fromgoodtoholy-shit-I’m-so-turned-on-and-I’m-going-to-come-if-he-doesn’t-stop.

Each draw of his mouth came with a blast of sensitivity on my clit, hitting me in just the right way that sent pleasure coiling in me tighter and tighter. He wasn’t even physically touching me there, but I felt the rocking shifts of his body, his hips canting forward like he wanted to thrust into me.

Novak kept moaning against my neck, settling more of his weight on top of me until our torsos were flush together. His hand slid up my waist, palming my breast over my dress as he drank from me. My thighs locked around him, holding him in place because every cell in my body never wanted him to leave.

My open, panting mouth felt too empty, too dry. I wanted to be kissing him, tasting his tongue and skin and fangs. Or his blood.

I grabbed his hand that rolled over my breast and brought his wrist to my mouth. Biting into him was as instinctual as breathing, easy as resting my forehead on his chest for comfort. Novak’s body jerked when the first drop of blood hit my mouth, and his groans against my neck grew more guttural, animalistic, and desperate.

The taste of him somehow soothed my aches and heightened my senses into a frenzy. My clit was so sensitive, it was near painful. Our hips rolled against each other, chasing pleasure and release. Novak fit so well between my legs, the friction of his hard length adding another layer of dizzying sensation to the pulls of his mouth. He felt so good in every imaginable way. Tender and rough. Safe with a touch of danger.

I came in a heady rush that stopped my breathing for a few seconds, my whole body locking up like I’d been turned into stone. The tension released and I floated on pulses of sensation, my heart kicking against my ribs like a caged bird.

Novak’s fangs left my neck, making me shiver as he soothed the bite with his tongue. I did the same to his wrist, a little clumsier, and licked up a trail of blood that ran down his forearm.

His torso lifted away from mine, and I immediately missed it. The weight of him, the press of his body against me was a source of comfort and safety I never knew I craved until now. His forehead rested on mine, chest heaving with his panting breaths.

“Good?” he rasped. “You okay?”

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