Page 30 of Dark Reckoning
“Let's go tell Salino his house is safe.”
“Wait, let me gather everything since we'll be leaving soon,” Adrian said, then ran back over to the area where we had performed the spell and packed up our shit. Together, we left and made our way back to Salino's office. I started to just barge in, but Adrian knocked first.
Fine.
Salino bade us in and we entered. “It's all done,” I said.
He was in the middle of feeding and he'd stopped to let us in. “I know, I felt it.” He turned back to the human and sank his fangs again into the man's neck. What I noticed right away was the pleasure the human was feeling. He gripped Salino's arms, his cock was raging hard, and he moaned with every swallow of his blood. That was new, because the last time Salino fed from me, it hurt like hell. He was a pain feeder. The man arched, his body shaking through his climax. That was when Salino pulled back, licking the blood from his full lips. The human slouched on the sofa and drifted off to blissful sleep as if he didn't have a care in the world.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see my baby blushing at witnessing Salino feeding. He was complex to me in the sense that he was both bold and shy. Always unpredictable, and I loved that about Adrian.
Salino rose off his human meal and walked over to us. “So, the spell is currently active?”
I nodded. “Yeah, and as you can see, you didn't explode when you fed.”
“The human was willing and as you can see, he enjoyed every second of it,” Salino shot back.
“You'll be safe, don't worry. Like we explained, the barrier protects you and what you value. Which in your case is this building and the vampires inside. It's programmed to act on your behalf of what you feel is a threat and then to which level,” Adrian said.
Salino wiped the drop of blood from the corner of his mouth and sucked his thumb between his lips and even that act was seductive. Made me wonder if he was doing it on purpose or not. “I want you both to stay here. I've prepared a room for you,” he said.
“Stay? Like forever or just the night?” Adrian asked.
“The night. Though you both are linked to me, we still need our space. I could no more tolerate having Sage live under my roof than he could,” Salino said.
“Shit, you've got that right. No way I'd give up my own peace of mind to be this close to you,” I said.
“I concur,” Salino snapped back.
“In the meantime, we have to take care of Damon's safe houses, so we'll be back,” I said.
“You can't leave yet. Emperor Martin will be here in fifteen minutes. I figured he'd be traveling by car, but instead, he took his private helicopter. I need you both with me to make the statement I want to convey,” Salino said.
“You plan on challenging him tonight?” Adrian asked.
Salino shook his head. “No, but I just want him to know that I have two powerful mages at my side, nothing more. I can't do that if you're not here.”
“Would he try to attack you?” I asked.
Salino nodded. “None of the emperors are fond of each other and they've made me their enemy. I'm no match for their strength as they are extremely powerful.”
“Fuck, you're needy,” I groused.
Salino rolled his eyes. “And you're an ingrate.”
“Getting back to the emperor,” Adrian said, and his interruption quelled the back-and-forth Salino and I were engaging in. “If you think he's going to try to make a move on you, that's what the barrier is for.”
“But what action will it take if he attacks? I don't want him to die, not until his vampires are linked to me,” Salino said.
Adrian and I looked at each other. He sighed and shrugged a shoulder. “We could disarm the lethal aspect of the barrier and just do a protection spell in the room where the emperor will be.”
I nodded. “Yeah, that works.”
Salino nodded. “That's the kind of initiative I want to hear.”
“After we deal with this emperor and send him on his way, we have to leave to help Damon,” I said.
“And I will allow you to take my private helicopter so you can run your errands faster... unless you know how to teleport?” Salino asked, looking from me to Adrian.
