Page 77 of Auctioned for Her Blood
“You can say that again.” My insides contract, a tiny orgasm that steals my voice for a moment. The effect of this man, without even touching me... “Andyou’venever fed a human before? Not even to heal them?”
He shakes his head.
“Why?”
“Because I believe that it is unethical.”
“Then why did you give me your blood?”
His cheeks darken. “I saw no other solution to your dehydration, and—”
“And what?” He clearly doesn’t want to finish his thought.
He sighs. “When I bit my wrist, I released a great deal of my venom, knowing you would ingest it as you fed. As such, I thought you would sleep through any…these undesirable physical effects.”
“Undesirable?” I feel punched. Rejected. “But I’d already told you that Ryker’s bite didn’t put me to sleep.”
He nods. “I assumed the cad had held back his venom.” He clears his throat. “Ember, please let me explain. I want to be as unambiguous as I can.”
I nod. He keeps going around in circles, making excuses, stalling as if he hopes that if he talks long enough, frustrates me enough, I’ll get past this overwhelming urge to have sex.
But in spite of my growing annoyance, my sex continues to pulse, so damp my thighs are slick.
“Since the day we met,” he says, “I suspected that your blood’s effect on vampires could be very special, but I did not anticipate that the effect of a vampire’s blood onyouwould also be different.”
He shifts, and his jacket falls open, once again exposing his tented pants. My breath shudders through me, and my hips pulse.
“Thank you for explaining.” I shift toward him. “And now that everything’s out in the open, you won’t be taking advantage—”
“Yes. I would be. And I don’t want you to ever have a reason to question my motivations with regard to you.” Everything in his voice, his expression, his body language reads genuine. He cares what I think of him.
He doesn’t want our first time to be tainted by artificially generated desire. The thought floods my heart and makes me want him even more. Now that I understand where he’s coming from, we can get past the ethical dilemma fighting inside him. But how can I convince him that my desire is real?
“Zuben.” I slide my hand along the sofa cushions, shifting ever so slightly toward him. “I appreciate your honesty and your…values. It means a lot that you don’t want to take advantage of me.”
His body visibly relaxes, his shoulders shifting. The tendons in his face release too, and his lips soften, making him even more handsome—something I didn’t think possible. His eyes flutter shut and I marvel again at his thick black lashes. I want to kiss those lashes, or better yet feel them flick over my skin.
“I want to be fully honest with you,” I say copying his serious tone. “No games between us.”
His eyes snap open. “Games?”
“No…artifice.”
He nods. “I appreciate that. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, and I understand that some of the physical things that I’m feeling are…heightened because I drank your blood.”
He opens his mouth to say something, but I hold up my hand, and he stops to let me continue.
“But you need to understand something too.”
He nods.
“I was attracted to youwaybefore I tasted your blood. I was attracted to you the first day we met. And everything you’ve done since then, the concern you’ve shown for me, has only made memoreattracted to you. If you made love to me now, you wouldn’t be taking advantage of me. I promise.”
A muscle at the side of his jaw twitches, and he shifts on the sofa again. He’s so staid, so controlled, and I want more than anything to see him unravel. To know how he looks when he comes.
My insides pulse at the thought.
