Page 54 of Auctioned for Her Blood
His fingers circle there and then trace back up. Soft moans escape my lips, beyond my control, as his hands carry out their explorations, touching every part of me so gently, almost reverently, and it’s both relaxing and arousing.
I wish I had the energy to reciprocate, to explore his body in the same way, but I suppose, I hope, that there will be time to do that in the future. I’m not sure what I’ve done to deserve so much pleasure, but I decide it’s okay to be selfish right now, to lie here absorbing his touch, his gaze, his gentle kisses that make me feel like a work of art, like a goddess or object of worship.
And each kiss, each lick, each touch, makes the wetness between my legs increase. I might not have the energy to move, but even with my soreness, I ache to have him inside me again, to have him use my near-lifeless body for his pleasure, and endlessly for the rest of my life.
But as much as my desire grows, as much as my need to have him inside me again increases, his caresses avoid where I most want him to touch, exploring every inch of me except that hot damp place.
Sliding down the bed, his tongue laps the inside of my upper thigh, and I cry out, caught up in the agony of desire, but still he doesn’t offer me relief.
Instead, his mouth returns to my throat, his tongue rigid, as the point of it traces over my skin, stroking, up and down, as if he can detect my veins and arteries, taste the capillaries beneath my skin, and then his tongue circles, spiraling everywhere, until I’m just as anxious for his bite as I am for his cock.
“Turn over,” he whispers against my ear.
I mumble something unintelligible, meaning to tell him that I don’t have the strength to roll, but he gently guides me onto my front, my face turned to the side on the pillow as he renews his inspection of my body, treating the back of me with as much interest and reverence as the front, kissing and touching me everywhere, the soles of my feet, the small of my back, the space between my ass cheeks, but still he avoids the places where I most want to feel his tongue, his fingers, his cock.
I am almost unconscious with pleasure when he turns me onto my back again. With sleepy eyes, I look into his, filled with so much need his gaze sears me, heating me as much as his hands have.
He strokes my throat. “I need to—” he stops short “—may I take your vein?”
“Yesss.” The word hisses out of me, and it turns into a gasp as his fangs pierce my throat even before my word’s fully out.
A surge of pleasure and joy races through me. My blood instantly catches on fire, like it’s spiked with hot peppers, and my eager blood rushes through my body toward his lips.
But as he gulps down my blood, instead of draining me further, my energy returns, like a switch inside me was flipped. And the burning soreness between my legs changes too, transforming into an even more desperate ache. I can’t even imagine how I’d feel if he drank while moving inside me.
With a gasp, he pulls his mouth from my neck, and his body goes limp as he falls asleep, one arm and one leg draped across me.
Chapter Seventeen
Zuben
“The CEO will see you now.”A tall, slender vampire nods and gestures toward a large, ornately carved door. This floor of the DEFTA offices looks like something out of an Italian villa, not something you’d find on the top floor of most office towers, all audacious marble and showy antiques. The current CEO’s taste.
Octavia took over DEFTA more than eighty years ago in what could only be referred to as a coup. Her interest in my personal research, which predated her rise to power, was flattering at first, but since that fiasco with the shifters, I’ve hidden what little progress I have made, and will most definitely hide my suspicions about Ember. I won’t let Ember suffer a similar fate to those shifters.
I reach for the gold doorknob, but the door swings open before I can touch it, revealing her large office, decorated in rich reds of varying shades and textures, a strong emphasis on plush velvets and shimmering satins. It’s not dark enough for my night vision to kick in, but the lighting is soft for an office and draws my focus toward the CEO herself, sitting behind a desk that seems to have been hewn from a single slab of white marble, intricately carved like Michelangelo or Bernini had done it.
Octavia stands and my heart skips a few beats. Objectively, beauty is a word that falls miles short of describing her physically, even though I have seen the ugliness in her heart. Her short, dark hair, almost black, wraps softly around her delicate features, in the flapper style so popular when she was human, and her olive-toned skin and flashing brown eyes seem to radiate light from within.
“Zuben.” Her voice is soft, but somehow commanding. “So nice to see you again.”
I nod and step forward tentatively. Involving her more than I have already is a risky move, but the stakes are too high. I must get Ryker away from Ember.
“I assume you have made progress on your research?” she says.
I step forward. “Nothing definitive.” I choose the word carefully to disclose little without lying.
“Then why are you here?” Her voice has changed completely, her anger building. I must proceed carefully.
“I am here because I have discovered a thief, a pirate. One who has stolen from you—many times.”
“You’re bothering me with a thief?” She leans back in her chair and sighs. “I have a security department to handle such matters.”
She flicks her wrist and five vampires emerge from the shadows, each of them massive and intimidating. Her personal security team members are also her mates, and rumor has it that at least one of them was Made by one of the Ancients, and possesses special powers beyond those of most vampires.
Something has to explain how such a young vampire as Octavia rose to such power in the syndicate, seducing the former CEO and then taking his place when he died, less than thirty years after she was turned in the 1920’s. I met Octavia before she was CEO, and found her interest in my work charming and flattering.
Many of us question her rise to power, but few dare disobey her, and there is no doubt she has transformed DEFTA, made us all richer, and protected our members from the stakes of the overly zealous human police who now slay vampires on sight.
