Page 58 of House of Blood and Roses: Vol. 2
Lord Fallmartin looks at me and raises an eyebrow but doesn't seem particularly angry about the revelation. He turns back to Bastian. "It is common for vampires to drink blood while in bed together."
"It's inappropriate," Bastian seethes.
Lord Fallmartin lets out a frustrated sigh. "You're supposed to have left those silly human sentiments behind. I don't know what your resistance is. Your sister doesn't have the same problems."
My heart is still racing even though Lord Fallmartin's words seem to be making it clear that I'm not the one in trouble right now.
"What is inappropriate is assaulting a member of the royal family. Do you realise what they could do to you in response? You have endangered House Rothorne with your recklessness." There's a hint of anger in Lord Fallmartin's voice, more than I think I've ever heard from him.
"Beatrice..." my brother starts.
"Is not the one who assaulted a prince," Lord Fallmartin finishes. "Get out."
Bastian looks as if he's going to fight back but must finally think better of it and leaves the room, slamming the door behind him and making Pip growl in response.
"I must apologise, Your Highness," Lord Fallmartin says to Linc.
"It's fine." He wipes the blood away from his nose and grimaces.
"Linc..." I say softly.
He puts a hand over mine. "It's fine," he repeats, getting to his feet and groaning slightly. "But perhaps I should find a healer."
"I can send for one if you wish," Lord Fallmartin says.
Linc shakes his head, turning to me. "Will you be all right on your own?"
I nod. "I'm sorry."
"Not your fault," he says softly. "I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Of course."
He hesitates as if he wants to kiss me, but then thinks better of it with the audience and leaves, grabbing his jacket from my floor as he does.
"I will make sure your brother doesn't bother you again," Lord Fallmartin says.
"You're not angry?" The question slips from me unbidden. I do want to know the answer, but I also don't want to risk making him angry. People keep telling me that vampires and chastity aren't a common combination, but there's a difference between it being hypothetical and me still having bite marks on my neck while talking about it.
"Only at your brother. Your duty to House Rothorne is to ensure that there are no impediments to your marriage with Prince Lincoln. It would appear to me that is precisely what you are doing."
I look down, trying to ignore the flush in my cheeks. "I didn't mean to..." I trail off, not really knowing what I'm trying to say. Because I did mean to bring Linc in here, and I did mean for him to bite me, and to make my whole body sing with pleasure. Not a single part of that was unwanted or unplanned.
"It's fine, Beatrice," Lord Fallmartin says. "We don't need to speak of it."
I nod, glad that I don't have to prolong the embarrassment of being caught.
He sweeps out of the room, presumably to go and berate Bastian some more. I let out a frustrated sigh and flop down on the bed. "Well, that could have gone better," I say to Pip.
She gives me a confused look and puts her head down on her bed.
I close my eyes and try not to replay the evening on a loop, because no matter how much people tell me it isn't an issue that Linc and I were together, I'm not going to be able to forget that both Bastian and Lord Fallmartin now know exactly what the two of us get up to when we're alone.
TEN
The atmosphere in the dining room is tense at best. I pick up my goblet of blood and drink some, but in reality, I barely taste it. I set it back down and, without thinking, touch the spot on my neck where Linc bit me last night. It's completely healed already, and there's no sign that anything happened, but I can still feel the ghost of the bite. Probably because we didn't get to finish what we started.
Bastian glares at me from his seat at the bottom of the table, and as much as I want to ignore him, I can't.
