Page 119 of Fighting for Her Heart
“You can tell me anything, but—” I tip my head to the side.
“What is it?”
“Sestra? What does that mean?”
“Sorry.” She giggles. “I meant my sister, Selina. Normally, I’d discuss this with her, but she’s so far away…” Sadness flashes in her expression.
“I’m honored to stand in for your sister as best I can,” I say.
“I’m sorry to flaunt that I have a sister when you cannot locate yours.”
“That’s okay.”
“And Selina is not my sister by blood. Well, not blood in the sense of ancestry.”
“What do you mean?”
“Selina is King Dunkan’s daughter by birth. I am his Progeny. The king is who turned me into a vampire.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Enough sad talk.” Anna grins. “There is time for that later. Let’s talk aboutlove. Do you love your men very much?”
“I do.” My chest floods with warmth. “I really, really do.”
“How can you tell? I mean how did youdiscoverthat you loved them?” She glances down. “I mean…” She shakes her head. “Did something in your emotions shift when you first made love to them? Or did it take more than one lovemaking session? Or can you tell when youfeedfrom them?”
Her curiosity is kind of endearing. Almost like I’m the older sister not the younger one and she wants advice about boys.
“It’s hard to explain…” And I realize it was slightly different for each of the men. I’d made love with Ryker and Zubenbeforefalling in love, with Axe it was the other way around. “Why are you asking?”
“Actually…” She glances toward the door and then leans in closer. “It is about Timur.”
“Do you love him?”
Her eyes fill with worry. “That is the million dollar question. I have never thought of my blood partner in that way, but he has recently confessed that he has such feelings for me and that he would like for us to become…to become more intimate…physically intimate.”
“Oh. You aren’t lovers?” I wish I could hide my shock.
She shakes her head and her cheeks flush again. “Timur has been at my side since King Dunkan brought me to the palace. He chose Timur to be my blood partner, because Timur was a eunuch.”
“A what?” There’s so much in that sentence I don’t understand. “I mean, sorry. First, what’s a blood partner?”
“My apologies.” She smiles softly. “I forget you have been a vampire for a very short time and know little of our culture.”
“No apology necessary.”
“Do you understand that vampires need to feed from each other on occasion, as well as from humans?”
“Yes.” I nod. “To get stronger.”
“That is correct. Plus, from what I understand, mutual feedings are a primal urge between vampires when they are in love.” Her eyes turn sad, but then she shakes her head as if ridding her mind of a thought. “And you may also know that, for most vampires, feedings heighten sexual desire and pleasure, regardless of any emotional connection.” She blushes even harder.
“Oh,believeme. I knowallabout that.” Smiling, I raise my eyebrows a few times. “I’mveryfamiliar with the effects of vampire blood on my sex drive, believe me.” I squirm on the seat cushion, instantly flooded with sense memories. Even now that I’m learning to control it, I still get desperate for sex after feedings. And it was that way even before we were in love. Even when I barely knew the men.
Anna nods, but keeps her gaze down. “It is vampiric custom, in the palace at least, for those who do not have mates to take a blood partner to satisfy the need to feed so that…” Her lips twist as if she’s trying to find the right words.
“So you don’t end up having indiscriminate sex with a whole bunch of vampires?” I finish what I assume she meant.
