Page 45 of Sold to the Dark Vampire Prince

“He never smiled.”

“Ah, yes. That.” Alex combed fingers lightly through her hair, voice soft in the dark. “And I understand he has a dreadful number of swans. They can be very menacing.”

“And from what I hear, assassins are often coming after him with saucepans.”

“But rather lovely assassins. One he’s quite taken with, actually.” He leaned up on one elbow, softly tracing her face. “For what it’s worth, I pictured kissing you as well. I thought it would never be a possibility, for a thousand reasons, and tried to put it out of my mind.” His knuckles skimmed her jawline. “But that didn’t mean I didn’t imagine what it would feel like to have you sigh against my neck when I ran my fingers through your hair for the first time, or imagine how you would finally taste when our lips met.”

Dani lifted her fingertips to trace his cheekbones as he leaned down, first nuzzling her nose, and then oh so softly fitting his mouth over hers. Alex angled his head to the side to deepen the kiss and the resulting shiver caused her back to arch into his waiting hands. He pressed her firmly against him, making the same trembling start in her knees and work its way up to her hips, until her breath was coming in shallow pants.

“You’re shaking.” He pressed a kiss against her throat, fingertips mapping the curves of her back beneath her tank.

“More.” When she tried to rise up on her elbows, wanting to get closer, needing more of him, he lifted her so that she was sitting across his lap, their noses inches apart.

“This is a good sort of trembling, I take it? Your heart is beating very fast.”

His fingertips skimmed up her back beneath her cardigan, finding a few inches of bare skin between her shoulder blades. Slowly, he drew lazy circles until Dani felt her breathing quicken and her nipples had formed taut peaks beneath her tank. His lips traveled along the underside of her jaw, mapping the pulsing vein at her throat.

“We only get to indulge for a single night.” She pressed into him so that their bodies were flush, cupping his face in both hands. “Right now, I’m so starved for your touch, I feel I could never be sated.”

She kissed him, tongue cautiously exploring his fangs, which had grown long with arousal.

“Oh, Daniela,” he said huskily when she rocked against his hips. She arched in the cage of his arms. Alex held her tight against him, with no possibility of escape. The hard length of him jutted between her thighs. “You have no idea what you’re doing to me.”

When she broke the kiss, hesitantly tugging at the hem of his shirt, he lifted his arms, allowing her to drag it over his head. For a minute, she just stared, fingers ghosting over the broad width of his shoulders. As their mouths met, his hands skimmed beneath her cardigan, thumbs gliding over the bare inch of skin at her hips. When she sighed into his mouth, he slid his hands beneath the bottom of her shirt, stroking lazy circles over her hips and back as their kisses intensified.

She whimpered, arching into his hands with every pass they made higher up her ribcage, squirming over him until he was staring up at her with hooded silver eyes, hands pushing her tank up to the bottom curve of her breasts.

“If you don’t touch me soon, I’m going to scream,” she whispered faintly, pushing her hair over one shoulder so the vein at her neck was exposed. Twisting her shoulders back, she let the cardigan slip from her arms. Immediately, gooseflesh shivered across her exposed skin.

“I’ll keep you warm,” he whispered, thumbs skimming daringly higher until they brushed just below her nipples.

Dani let her head fall back.

“Yes,” she breathed, lifting her arms so Alexander could draw the thin shirt up and over her head.

The urge to cover herself was so immediate that she could barely keep from crossing her arms over her bare breasts, but Alex was looking at her with such hunger, such unguarded want, that she let them drop and allowed him to look his fill.

“You’re very beautiful, Dani,” he whispered, pulling her flush to him so that they were skin to skin.

Their lips met in a hungry kiss, and she noted that his fangs had grown even more pronounced. When they broke away, Alex exhaled hard, nuzzling her neck.

“I need to take from you again,” he said roughly, pressing a kiss to the vein at her throat. “And I want to bite you here. It’s a more intimate way to feed. But only if you’ll allow it.”

His thumbs began to lightly circle her nipples, and she gasped.

“I want you to.” She trailed her fingertips down his chest until they rested just above his navel. When Alex groaned, she continued, “It makes me want things when you bite me, even when I think about you doing it. Dark, forbidden things. I never imagined that feeding you could feel so good. Just don’t stop… that.”

“You’re mine,” he said huskily, a second before his fangs sank into her throat.

There was the familiar quick flash of pain before the numbing effect of his venom took hold, soothing the sting. Her clit gave a tiny, needy pulse. Dani felt her knees go weak, felt the room begin to swirl, and willed herself not to pass out. And then Alex began to pull from her throat.

It was both terrifying and exhilarating to have his fangs there, knowing a single wrong move could leave her mortally wounded, and knowing he would never allow that to happen. Her legs shook as she tried to hold still, and her clit pulsed again, more insistently this time. His large hands spanned her ribcage, holding her captive as he continued to tease the aching tips of her breasts.

She couldn’t deny the incredible intimacy of feeding him from her throat like this while she was laid bare before him, so close to a precipice she wasn’t entirely sure she could reach. She’d only ever given herself pleasure in stolen moments, her hand moving stealthily under the covers in the dark. She wasn’t sure she could let go with Alex watching her this intently, seeing the moment she came apart.

And yet, as his thumbs began to tease her nipples again, her back arching into his touch to beg for more, as he drew in slow sucks from her neck, she knew how desperately she wanted to. She wanted him to make her shatter, because if she didn’t fall apart soon, she might come out of her very skin.

He tugged the tender peaks of her breasts, pinching softly until she gasped in the dark. Her clit ached so fiercely she wanted to cry out, needed to grind her hips against his until it brought her relief. Her hand went slack where it rested against his navel, fingers coming to rest on—