Page 47 of Sold to the Dark Vampire Prince

He growled, thumb skating fast circles around her aching nub. She whimpered, and bit his shoulder again. Close. She was so close.

“Gods, Daniela. You have no idea what hearing that does to me. I need you again already just from smelling your scent and your kisses and feeling the hot silk of your sex while you clench my fingers.”

The coiling pressure building in her hips tightened until she was sure she couldn’t stand it for another second. She gasped as her release came without warning. Alexander sank his teeth into her throat the second she whimpered his name.

Where the first two times he’d taken from her vein had been about the need for nourishment, this time was darker, rougher. There was no denying Alex’s sudden burst of possessiveness in the way his arms caged her in, or his craving to claim her as his while she fell apart in his arms.

“Yes,” she whispered, clawing at his shoulders, and clenching harder around his fingers. “Alexander, yes.”

He took from her in long sucks, her nub pulsing in tight, aching waves, until at last, she collapsed back against the bed, thoroughly wrung out.

The room went hazy and dim. She was vaguely aware of Alex’s lips kissing her throat, then of the touch of a warm washcloth as he gently cleaned her. The next thing she knew, she was back in her tank and panties. Alexander was sliding beneath the covers behind her, his arm draped protectively across her middle, their bodies spooned.

“Sleep, Daniela,” he murmured into her neck, just before consciousness claimed her. “You’re mine until morning.”

CHAPTER 8

DANI AWOKE TO FIND the first pale hints of dawn streaming softly through her curtains. Yawning, she stretched beneath the covers. She felt tired, and deliciously sore, the memory of Alexander’s need as he’d taken from her the previous night stirring something warm and hungry in her belly.

But when she turned over, the other half of the bed was cold. Sitting up entirely too quickly, she was forced to grip the edge of the mattress for support when stars sparkled before her eyes. The covers lay rumpled where Alex had slept beside her throughout the night… or at least, she thought he had.

Had she just imagined the prince getting into her bed after feeding from her throat for the last time? It had all been so hazy.

She was nearly to the door when she saw the note that had been left folded neatly atop her dresser.

Heart pounding, she snatched it up.

Daniela,

I rather loved watching the sun come up outside your window while you slept on my chest, surrounded by all of the things you hold dearest in the world. (You snore, by the way, but very softly, much like your cat. I confess, it was rather adorable, and I couldn’t think of waking you.)

I’m afraid the gilded cage I grew up in has always been one where it was safest to conceal the things that were precious to me, lest they be destroyed out of spite, and so my room at the castle looks very different from yours. But I loved imagining you here as a girl while you and your father talked about books, or trying on a sweater knitted for you by your mother from yarn she chose at the market. My mother and I were very close before she passed. She was once a sanguine, like you.

I fear I was far too greedy in taking from your vein last night. It seems I can’t control myself when it comes to you. Deepest apologies for sneaking out, but I thought one of us should put that saucepan to good use for something besides braining wayward princes, so breakfast it is.

Yours, Alexander

Going over to the mirror, she touched the bite marks he’d left at her throat. She knew the tiny twin punctures would fade, and yet part of her didn’t want them to. Even if she was nothing more than his sanguine, a blood thrall, she wanted this small, lingering measure that marked her as his.

Pressing the note to her chest, she tucked it into her writing notebook and went to collect her things for the shower.

When she padded out into the kitchen a short while later, she found Alexander at the stove flipping pancakes. Henri leaned against the counter, feeding Cinder scraps of bacon while Ava held her like a baby.

“There will be no living with her after this.” Evan went to the kettle to pour a fresh mug of peppermint tea. “I’m sure she’ll turn her nose up the next time we toss her out the window and expect her to hunt for rats for her breakfast.”

Dani twisted her wet hair into a knot on top of her head, bending to kiss Cinder’s forehead, then Ava’s. “Don’t ever lose your taste for rats.”

“Please tell me that was directed at Our Supreme Overlord,” Ava deadpanned, setting Cinder down as Alex brought the pancakes to the table. “And must we talk of something vile at every breakfast, like Evan’s ten different ways to stab an attacker?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Evan mused, reaching for the sugar-free syrup. “That’s rather useful information, I should think.”

“At least the power’s back on.” Dani juggled the bowl of scrambled eggs and the plate of sausage. “Last time, it was two days.”

“Allow me.” Alex reached to take the heavy dishes from her. “How are you feeling?” he added softly, where only she could hear. “You were out cold for most of the night.”

“And snoring, apparently. At least, according to a certain note I received.”

“I said cute kitten snores.”