Page 17 of Blood Slumberm
He levitated down to join her. A flinch went through her, becoming another beat in the dance. Strumming hard on the lute strings, he circled and leapt with her, close enough to touch.
Her blood was rushing from the dancing, but it was his nearness that made her heart kick against her ribs. All the other sounds in the world seemed to fade as his hearing filled with the thrum of her blood pumping through her body. He forgot the rhythm of the song, and he played to the beat of her heart.
They turned again, and the room whirled. The floor tilted. He ran into the table, and the lute slipped from his hands with a melodious thud. Celandine caught him, falling back, her hair spilling wild across the golden linen tablecloth.
She looked up at him with wide eyes. “You were stronger than this last night.”
He sucked in a breath, trying to think through his thirst and desire. “I used magic.”
Her court mask slipped. “Healing me weakened you?”
“You don’t owe me anything.” That seemed so important to say, somehow.
But all coherent thought fled from his mind when Celandine pulled her robe aside to reveal her throat.
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Celandinewatchedhisfangsshoot down. Where was her healthy fear now? Those sharp teeth didn’t scare her as they had, as they should. Fascination made her reach up and run her finger down one of his canines.
She pricked herself on the sharp point. Troi closed his mouth around her finger. This time he looked into her eyes as he sucked.
She could see the desperation in his gaze, the sickly tint under his rich complexion. “My wrist will not be enough for you tonight.”
He braced his hands on the table on either side of her. “May I drink from your throat?”
He could have demanded. He could have taken. But something about that question was more seductive than anything her lovers had ever said to her in bed.
She buried her fingers in his hair and pulled his mouth down to her neck.
When his fangs sank into her, she felt the bite all the way to her core. She bit down on her own hand to keep from moaning. He sucked rapidly at her throat, sending beats of pleasure pounding through her body. Splayed on the table for him, it would be so easy to wrap her legs around him and let him pound into her with more than his fangs.
Fuck, she had to stop thinking. Stop breathing. Just hold her own until he had his fill. She couldn’t let him find out how his bite affected her. He would use it against her. Wouldn’t he?
He lifted his head with a gasp. Her blood painted his beautiful lips and dripped down his chin. “Your lust is the finest delicacy in this house.”
Oh,fuck. He could taste that in her blood?
Did her pleasure somehow make her flavor better for him?
A knowing, infuriating smile spread across his face. He lowered his mouth to her ear. “I won’t touch you unless you demand, Your Highness.”
He kissed his way to the other side of her throat and bit down.
He let her lie there, half under him, while he wreaked havoc in her body with only his bite. His hands lay flat on the table to either side of her, unmoving.
She swore at him and dragged her robe open. Taking hold of his hand, she put it to her breast. Obediently, he began to massage her. Gods above and below, his one-hundred-year sleep had not made him forget his way around a woman’s body. His fingers played her nipple with expert flicks and tugs.
She should stop him now while she still had the will. But she was so hungry…she had been hungry for so long.
She clutched his other hand and guided it to where her wound had been. He swept his hand around her thigh, just like when he had healed her. This time his touch seared her, feverish hot.
He took his time, warming her with slow caresses along the inside of her thigh. She wanted him to hurry and give her everythingnow.But she didn’t want him to stop.
When she was on the verge of falling apart, he stopped touching her. Wicked tease. She cursed again and dragged his hand between her legs.
His touch was smooth and hard and warm. She pressed the heel of his hand to the top of her cleft and arched against him. Oh, it was good to feel a man’s touch there again. She guided his hand exactly where she wanted him, and he rubbed her while she ground herself on him.
She let her head fall back and closed her eyes. Wetness slid between his fingers onto her hand as her grip relaxed. He slowed his caresses, bringing his fingers up to tease her clitoris. She melted into his touch, curling her fingers around the edge of the table to steady herself.
