Page 82 of True Sacrifice
The moment her blood touched my tongue, I knew what she was to me. Mate. The monster inside me knew it. But she was already mated to the demons. I could never win her from them in combat. I could barely keep up with one, let alone all three of them. There is no way she would choose to stay here with me and my kingdom. So, for now, I endured her presence and trained her as fiercely as any of the vampire soldiers that fought for our kingdom.
I sent Sebastian to meet with the fae. He always tolerated them better than I did. Things got off topic when I killed a fae pet once. I hated it, how they treated the humans like animals. They could turn humans into fae. The fae could even mate them. They weren’t lesser.
Walking into her room, the last rays of the sun streaming in as she left the door to the cove open. She stood in a flowing blue dress; her back to me as she watched the night breathe into life.
“It’s amazing to wake up to this every night,” she said with a smile just for me as she turned around.
Today was a leash day, I could feel it. She had on those rope shoes I picked out for her on the first night out. Somebody wanted attention.
“What will it be tonight, Darling?” I said, holding the golden rope in my arms.
“Spell tonight, please.” She said so sweetly, it took me a minute to realize what she had asked for.
“Where are you planning on going all dressed up like that?” Confusing thoughts raced through my mind as I thought about the possibilities she was offering. Did she want me to take her out, or was she meeting someone else?
“Well, I take a day off training now and then to keep life fun and all. I’m taking tonight. Figured to go around, mingle with the vampire population. Get a real feel for my vampire side, you know?”
She twirled around a little and the rope from her shoe came untied and almost tripped her. For fuck’s sake, if she tried to go out to a club, she would end up killing herself. I ran up to her, scooping her up into my arms before rushing her back into her room and depositing her on the bed.
“Give me that,” I grumbled out, grabbing at her foot.
She brought her foot up, placing it on my chest, the pointed heel digging into my flesh. Her dress pooled around her, hiding her away from view. I slid my hand up her thigh, inspecting each of the knots she made. None of them were secure.
I untied the whole thing in a flurry, but her hand came up and brushed against mine.
“Slow down so I can follow along. Not always going to have you around to tie up my shoes. And trust me, these babies are coming back to Hell with me.” She smiled, looking at the fucking shoe. Sure, the shoes get to keep you, but I don’t.
With bitter pulls, I slowed down and began retying the knots. Some were tighter than they needed to be. Didn’t want them to come undone again after all. When I finished with that foot, I dropped it from my chest. I looked at her and my anger equally turned to lust.
She was lying sideways across the bed. Her dress and hair haphazardly strewn about from when I tossed her on there. She brought her other leg up slowly. Fitting it against my chest the same way she had with her other shoe.
“This one needs to be tighter too,” she said with a smile like she knew exactly what she was doing to me. She would have known the first moment she drank my blood after receiving her vampire power. Her bond was still blocked off, but nothing felt like a mate bond. There was no way she would have missed it breaking free inside her.
The collar she wore would help us both, since we weren’t being drawn together by the bond while she wore it. Anything else we might be feeling wasn’t because of that. Like how fucking good her blood tasted. I’ve tried all week to find any donor that didn’t taste entirely bland after having drunk from her. I certainly couldn’t let her drink from anybody either, so I have had glasses of blood sent to her daily.
I slowly tied up her second shoe, watching her eyes fixate on the movement of my fingers. Her eyes were black. Vein like darkness crept under her skin from her eyes. Her monster was saying hello at long last.
I shoved her foot off me. “Flip around, darling, I have a spell to do.” I snapped the rope.
She flipped around eagerly, and I smiled bitterly. The universe sure knew how to pick them. The back of her dress wasn’t cut low enough for me to even get most of the rope on her skin. No zipper or ties either. This one just went over her head. She knew what she was asking for.
I sat on the back of her thighs as I flipped the back of her dress up, revealing her ass in a little black pair of underwear. I ignored it as I continued to push her dress until I exposed her back to me. I eased up off her. She hadn’t fought like I expected, which means she very well baited me into that one.
“May as well just meet me at the door without clothes on next time,” I grumbled as I tied up the rope quickly and began placing it on her skin.
“But how would that look with the shoes?” she mused, as if she was contemplating it.
I lunged at her, holding her by the throat as I pushed her deeper into the mattress.
“I’m not sure what kind of game you keep playing with me, but it ends now. Got it?” I growled into her ear. The scent of her blood was so much stronger from this close.
“Why do I want you to bite me?” she managed breathlessly. “Is that a sire thing?”
I scrambled away from her. I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t be this close and not have her. If she stayed, I would end up drinking from her again, and her from me. We would fall into the bloodlust, and I’d end up with my dick in her. It was hard enough to stay away. I wouldn’t end up broken like father. She would likely far outlive me as a demon.
“Lay still so I can get this spell on you, and you can be off to wherever you had planned.” I grumbled, gathering the rope back up and trying to rearrange it again. “How far do you need tonight?”
She laid entirely still and silent as I finished the spell. I fixed her dress for her when I finished.
