Page 16 of Vampire Sins
Fire bloomed with smoke on the opposite end of the city and the tower gave an ominous shudder under my feet. “Come on, Sonya,” I whispered. “You can do this.”
A Bond to Die For
Sonya
A vampire matingceremony wasn’t at all what I’d expected. No flowers. No cake. Nobooze. Think ancient Norse mythology where men wore antlers and painted themselves with blood. That seemed fairly accurate to whatever the hell was going on right now.
A vampire whose red eyes gleamed in the shadow of her hood presented a glistening silver knife. Xavier offered his wrist and didn’t even flinch as she sliced a long line up his arm.
He held his wrist over a silver bowl engraved with runes that glowed with power the instant his blood fell into it. The female dipped her fingers into it, smearing it over Xavier’s face in a barbaric streak.
Xavier grinned at me, his gleaming red eyes peering through the smear of blood. “Your turn,” he said as he offered a bowl that sloshed with the offending liquid, enjoying my squeamish reactions far too much.
He dipped his fingers into the blood that he’d just taken from his own wrist and traced a line down my face. My skin heated under the power that threatened to seep into me and take over. I resisted the terrible urge to lick at a droplet that tickled past my nose. The intoxicating scent of his blood hit me and I closed my eyes, gathering my strength before opening them again.
The dagger still gleamed with the slick nourishment of his power and hissed smoke into the air. The ritual had begun and it was one of the most powerful magics I’d ever sensed.
My Blood Stone hummed against the onslaught of foreign invasion. Vampires danced and sang and enjoyed themselves in the bunker’s courtyard. Xavier would have loved to have had this ritual up on the surface, but they’d gotten used to doing it here, close to the sleeping vampire master where their power was at its strongest. Turning someone new wasn’t a mild act and it took everyone’s efforts to bring fresh blood into the fold.
As a succubus, my turning would be easier than most. I already understood the need to feed in order to survive. My body would accept the transition to feed on blood rather than sexual energy, and even if the bowl that Xavier presented me with made me want to gag, it was still better than killing.
I dipped my fingers into the liquid that was still warm and my stomach churned, but I made myself ignore it as I traced another lined down the opposite side of Xavier’s face. Dipping my fingers again, I continued the pattern down his muscular chest until I hit the place where his heart should be. Pressing my palm against him, there was only stillness. No beat. Nothing.
I hated that we were up on a pedestal, the raised platform garnished with blankets, pillows, and a single table where Xavier had set the knife. The female was gone, only a whisper of shadows betraying she’d been there at all. Vampires danced beneath us, music loud enough that they couldn’t hear us, but it didn’t change the fact that they could look up. I know I would.
“Can we turn the lights down?” I asked. It wasn’t bright, but the warm light from the chandeliers did more than enough to illuminate Xavier’s naked torso until it seemed like it glowed. He came to me and tucked his fingers in the waistband of my jeans, shoving his hands underneath to cup my ass and press me against his growing erection. “This only works if I’m indulged by every part of you,” he whispered and he lowered his head to my neck and drew in a long breath as he scented me. He licked a line across my pulsating vein and goosebumps exploded across my body. “You’re intoxicating.”
My eyes fluttered closed at the hard presence of him as my breasts crushed into his chest. “Will it hurt?” I asked, fighting against the lust starting to bloom inside of me. I couldn’t set aside the monumental change I was accepting. I was changing my freaking species.
“Only the first bite,” he answered honestly as he pulled away and unlatched one hand from the confines of my jeans. He ran a finger across my lower lip. “Then there will be only pleasure—if you truly accept me.” I couldn’t deny the unexplainable feelings he brought out in me. Even if I couldn’t feel the beat of his heart, the beat of the music replaced the rhythm I was missing and I tugged at the back of his head to bring his lips down to mine. I curled my fingers through his hair as I danced my tongue against his, the scent and taste of him sending heat unfurling between my legs. His fangs were dangerously sharp, but he expertly kissed me without pricking me.
When he eased me down onto the blankets, I allowed him to indulge in the pleasure of unclothing me. He tugged my jeans down each leg and left my underwear alone. My shirt went next, but my bra he tugged the straps over my shoulders until my nipples peeked over the cloth. He sucked one into his mouth and I drew in a shocked gasp. I hadn’t expected a vampire to be so good with his tongue.
When he let go, he parted his lips and his fangs poised dangerously over the curve of my breast. I watched him with anticipation, shocked that I actuallywantedhim to bite me. Not because I got off on pain, but because I knew how much he wanted to. I wanted to give Xavier relief from the years of waiting and abstinence, both from sex, and from feeding.
“You can bite me,” I said breathlessly when he hesitated.
He grinned up at me, pleased with my permission. “Not yet,” he said. “When I bite you, it’s because I’m in you, and you’ll be begging for it.”
Desire slammed into me and my powers kicked in out of reflex, making his gaze go hazy. “You can try to feed on me,” Xavier warned, “but it’ll delay your pleasure. I need to be in full control when I take you and make you bonded to me by blood.” He lowered his pants until he erection slipped free and I drew in a gasp. Was he even bigger than the night before?
When I moved to him and went to curl my fingers around the delicious ridge of flesh, he grabbed my wrist and grinned. “This is your turning,” he explained. “I’m the one in control.”
Magic hummed through the air and pricked at me like tiny bites across my flesh. The vampires that continued to dance beneath us donated a portion of their hazy energy. They’d been affected by our foreplay and when I glanced down, I took in an eyeful of the beginnings of an orgy. The dancing had turned to grinding and a woman threw her head back as a male tugged her breasts free from her tight corset.
Xavier took a finger to my chin and drew my attention back to him. “They’re linked to us for the duration of the ritual,” he explained. He lowered himself over me, his cock nestling against my clit and making me gasp. I wanted to rip my underwear out of the way, but he grabbed my wrists and pulled them over my head as he moved in slow circles. “What you feel, the females will feel.” He took my mouth and his fangs grazed my tongue, but didn’t cut me. He was distracted enough that I wriggled one hand free, shoving it down between us and grabbed him. I stroked hard and he jerked against me. Male voices echoed his own moan. “And what I feel,” he breathed through his pleasure, “so will the males.”
It was oddly intoxicating to know that this wasn’t a sex show, but asharing.
When Xavier bit his wrist and offered me the small wound, I didn’t feel so squeamish anymore. This was a man offering his own life-force to me. He was in full awareness of his choice and he wanted me to share his blood. I wrapped my lips around his skin where his fangs had pierced him and ran my tongue across his warmth. His blood had been intoxicating before, but there had always been a telltale metallic tang that came with it. As I drank, the sour trait ebbed, leaving only a sweetness that reminded me of roses.
When I pulled away and sighed, he smiled. “What was that?” I asked.
“You’re accepting the change.”
As if that first vital test had been paramount, every muscle in Xavier’s body eased a fraction of tension I hadn’t realized had been there before. He peeled away my underwear so that his skin touched mine. I expected him to feel cool like the rest of him as was the way of vampires, but now he’d gone hot against me. No matter if he had a heart that beat or not, he was alive, and the friction of the magic that blended with him grated against mine.
His cock nudged at my entrance and I parted for him. “I accept you,” I said, my vision dancing with the red glow in his eyes. “Take me and make me yours.”
