She tilts her head again, a flicker of amusement in her eyes. “Whatam I?”
My heart flutters nervously. It’s impossible to deny the attraction I feel, even if it’s unexpected. “You’rebeautiful. I…I just have to think about my boyfriend.”
Crimson nods, her expression serious. “I respect your loyalty.”
“Thank you,” I reply, genuinely.
Then I feel the eyes of the other vampires back on us, and that fierce, throbbing ache returns.
I tug gently at the unbuttoned edge of her oxford shirt. “But…can you keep drinking from me?”
Her lips twitch into a smirk, and she brings my wrist up to them once more.
I lose myself in Crimson’s powerful embrace, and surrender to the hazy, sensual atmosphere of the lounge. With each tug of her lips, my blood fills her up, and my head spins. My pleasure continues to crest, with no end or resolution.
When I feel her drinking slow, I gaze at her with desperation in my eyes.
“Please,” I moan. “Pleasedon’t stop…”
She takes her fangs from my skin, licking me tenderly to heal the wound.
“That’s all for tonight,” she declares. Her definitive tone only makes the ache deepen. “I’m going to savour you. I can’t allow myself to become too greedy.”
Her words make my head spin. I blink up at her. “I feel so woozy…I don’t know how I’ll get to bed.”
She gives me that heart-stopping, cocky smirk again. Then, with no warning, she puts one arm under my legs, and stands, holding me firmly in her arms.
“Oh!” I gasp, grabbing onto her shoulder. But I have the feeling that I don’t need to hold on. She carries me swiftly down the steps from the throne’s raised platform, then through the sea of vampires and humans that quickly part for us.
I’ve never been carried like this before. Somehow, I feel so…safe. I know it doesn’t make any sense. Crimson is a dangerous, supernatural creature, and I should be terrified of her. And yet, she holds me so carefully, like I’m something precious. I allow myself to sink into her arms, to nestle myself against her chest.
She begins climbing the stairs, and takes me all the way up to the third floor. I’m surprised when she finds my room, and even more surprised when the door seems to open of its own accord.
“How did you do that?” I gasp.
“I attended a semester at a magic academy,” she says, as though this doesn’t multiply my questions tenfold.
The door shuts quietly behind us, and she takes me all the way to my bed. Somehow (magic? It’s impossible to believe), the blankets move so that she can place me underneath them.
“But how did you know which room was mine?” I ask her.
“Who do you think brought you back here, two nights ago?”
I swallow. The thought of her bringing me to my roomshouldhorrify me…
“I thought Eloise said that vampires don’t come up here?” I whisper.
She bends over me, her eyes darkening a little. “I’m the King of the Night clan. This is my mansion, and there is no room I cannot enter. But if you would like me to stay away...”
“No!” I’m surprised at how quick my response is, but I know immediately that I don’t want that. “You…you don’t have to stay away.”
“Understood,” she whispers. Her fangs have lined themselves back up with the rest of her teeth, and her eyes are back to their usual, pale grey. She gives me a final nod.
And then like a shadow, she’s gone.
Leaving me with a twisted chasm of desire that I don’t understand, and have no idea what to do with.
CHAPTER 10: A HEAVY CROWN
